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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27279871">If the dead don't get me</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account'>orphan_account</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Owl House (Cartoon)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Angst with a Happy Ending, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, Explicit Language, F/F, Fluff, Homophobia, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, No Sex, No Smut, Post-Zombie Apocalypse, Slow Burn, Slurs, Tags May Change, Zombie Apocalypse</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 16:34:25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>35,106</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27279871</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Luz didn't think her life could get any worse... It's amazing how fast a viral disease that turns the dead into man eating monsters can prove someone wrong.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Amity Blight/Luz Noceda, Edric Blight/Jerbo, Emira Blight/Viney</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>83</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>108</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. The Beginning</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>TW: GRAPHIC VIOLENCE, HOMOPHOBIA, SLURS, VOMIT.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The end of the world, hell, a new beginning, etc. It had many different names. All Luz knew is that this is how it is now. The dead are walking, and the living are becoming crueler and more dangerous with each passing day. It was 4 years ago when this all happened, and Luz could remember it like it was yesterday.</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p>Luz hated her life and everything about it. She thought the bullying would end once she moved to Hexide High School, but of course, she was wrong. At least now she has Willow and Gus. However, she was constantly ridiculed and ostracized by her peers, and stupid Amity Blight and Boscha won’t leave her alone. Today they decided to be especially ruthless.</p>
<p>It was lunchtime and she was sitting alone since Willow had an FFA meeting and Gus was studying for a Biology test. Luz decided that she was going to draw to pass the time until her next class, already having eaten her lunch. Her earbuds were blasting music so loud it blocked out the world around her as she drew small doodles of Azura, a character from her favorite book series. Unfortunately, this made her easy to be taken by surprise when someone ripped her sketchbook out of her hand and shoved her onto the ground.</p>
<p>“What the fuck?!” Luz snapped as she picked herself off the ground. Her tone immediately changed to one of fear when she realized who had pushed her. Amity, fucking, Blight. A chill ran down her spine when Amity sneered down at her. The mint-colored haired girl handed the sketchbook to her sidekick Boscha, who immediately started to flip through its pages.</p>
<p>A panic fell upon Luz when she saw Boscha freeze. She cackled as she showed the page to Amity and then to Luz. It was a drawing of Hecate and Azura kissing. “Why am I not surprised you’re a fucking queer! Amity take a picture of this shit!” Amity pulled out her phone, smiling like a kid on fucking Christmas.</p>
<p>Luz had enough, she grits her teeth and balled her fist. With tears in her eyes, she wound up her fist and socked Amity in the face with all her might. She didn’t stop. She kept swinging her fists as hot tears streamed down her face. Boscha quickly grabbed Luz and held her still as the poor girl flailed in her grip.</p>
<p>Amity, face bruised and with a fury in her eyes, spoke words that made Luz’s blood turn cold. “You’re going to regret that you fucking fag, I hope you enjoyed those sucker punches because you’re about to get your shit rocked!” Luz thrashed around as Boscha tightened her grip on her. Each of Amity’s blows either landing in her face or her ribs. This lasted for a few minutes but felt more like hours to Luz. She tasted copper as her mouth filled up with her own blood. Boscha threw her onto the ground like a piece of trash. Luz yelped but let out a shaky sigh of relief when she thought it was over. keyword ‘thought’. Amity smirked, reeling her foot back and landing a powerful kick to Luz’s stomach. They laughed when Luz clutched her stomach, gasping for air after the wind had been knocked out of her.</p>
<p>The girls left once they got bored of beating on Luz. Once they were out of sight she scrambled over to a trash can, unloading the contents of her stomach into it. “Mother fucker!-” She screamed as she kicked her backpack, letting out a cry of sadness and frustration. She was done with this bullshit. She packed her stuff up, sniffling as she fought to keep any more tears from spilling down her bloodied face. She didn’t want to deal with school anymore, she ditched and limped all the way home.</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>Luz managed to make it home where she took a shower and then bandaged herself up. Getting dressed in comfortable clothes, she then recounted the events in her mind. That was the first time she ever hit someone, and it shows because her hands hurt like hell. She brushed her thumb over her now scabbed over knuckles, grimacing when she realized how pissed her mom was going to be when she got home. She turned on the TV and pulled out her phone to see she had several missed calls and messages from Gus and Willow.</p>
<p>Her thumb pressed the callback button and held the phone to her ear. “Luz where the hell are you?! Why weren’t you in class?! Whatever that’s not important, the school was evacuated! Apparently, something really bad is happening all over the world! Luz, it’s fucking crazy! People are eating each other! Get your mom and get out of the city plea-....” The call dropped.</p>
<p>Luz quickly sat up and switched to the news channel, and like Willow said, people were eating each other. The injured girl clambered for her phone and dialed her mom’s number, “pick up, pick up, pick up!....” Her voice was shaky and panicky, she even began to hyperventilate. Her mom picked up.</p>
<p>“Luz, Mija?! Are you home right now?!” Her mom’s voice rang through the phone. Luz exhaled a sigh of relief.</p>
<p>“Si, I’m home mom! Are you ok?” Luz responded, happy to hear from her mom.</p>
<p>“Yes Luz, I’m on my way home! Pack a bag they’re evacuating the city, you need to be ready to go by the time I get home. Go! I love you!” Her mom hung up afterward.</p>
<p>Luz ran to her room, she dumped out the contents of her school bag and packed the essentials, clothes, a pocket knife, a picture of her and friends at winter formal, first aid, a few snacks, and her favorite Azura book. When she was done packing she went out into the living room and waited on the couch for her mom.</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>Many hours had passed and it was now dark out. The banging and screaming of people begging her to let them into her safe haven, her home, terrified her. No matter the pillows, the earbuds, even her headphones, she could still hear every blood-curdling scream. It was sickening and it lasted for hours until she heard a key unlocking the front door.</p>
<p>The door swung open with such force that she thought it would be ripped off its hinges from the momentum. It was her mom! "Mami!" Luz shouted upon seeing her mom standing in the doorway. She was quickly hushed as her mom shut the door and locked it. When her mom turned around she gasped as she saw the state Luz was in and rushed over to hold her daughter close. “Mija what happened to your face?!” Luz finally broke down and sobbed into her mother’s chest.</p>
<p>“S-some girls from school found out that...that I liked girls and they beat me up and called m-me names…” Camila's heart broke when she heard what her daughter had gone through. She tried to embrace Luz tighter, only for her to wince and flinch away from pain. “They...They hit me in my s-stomach too…” Luz choked out between sobs.</p>
<p>The tears were dry now, but now worry was plastered on to the girl's swollen face. “Mom are you ok?” She finally took in her mom’s appearance.</p>
<p>Her mom’s work clothes were soaked with…. What Luz hoped was just a ketchup accident. Her hair was out of its usual high bun and now matted and frazzled. She was also covered in a few scrapes and cuts, some looked pretty deep.</p>
<p>“I’m ok I just had a hard time getting to my car between all the people…. Leaving…” Camila trailed off, she was obviously going to say something else but she didn’t want to frighten her daughter any further.</p>
<p>Luz couldn't possibly fathom what her mom has been through in these past hours. However, they needed to go, and fast. Luz and her mom piled into the car and sped off to the evacuation point.</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p><br/>It had been 3 hours and the two women were only a 3rd of the way to the evacuation point, traffic was backed up all through the city leaving both Luz and her mom stranded. Her mom was clearly just as stressed as Luz was.</p>
<p>Luz texted Gus and Willow to check up on them, no response. “Shit-.”</p>
<p>“Luz Noceda, you will not use that kind of language!” Her mom snapped at her, she immediately softened when she saw the worried look on her daughter’s face. “I’m sure your friends are ok if that’s what you’re worried about… Why don’t you play some music on your phone.” She hoped this would cheer Luz up.</p>
<p>“Are you sure? You don’t usually like my mus-.” Luz cut herself off when she saw people racing through the streets, just getting out of their cars and running. Camila held her arm out in front of Luz as if to guard her against whatever is to come. Out of nowhere, a man threw himself onto the hood of the car making both Luz and Camila scream. Half of his face was missing and his guts were spilling out all over the car. “WHAT THE FUCK!!!” More ‘people’ threw themselves at the car, the windshield was starting to crack.</p>
<p>“Luz, Mija, listen to me. You are going to get out of this car and you are going to run as fast as you can, and you will not stop running until you are somewhere safe. Do you understand?” Camila’s voice cracked and strained as she tried to stay calm. Luz was panicking, she knew her mom was asking her to leave her behind.</p>
<p>“I’M NOT LEAVING YOU-.” Luz flinched and whimpered as she reached for her mom, a sharp pain shooting through her ribs. The windshield cracked further from the pressure.</p>
<p>Camila screamed back at her daughter. “IF YOU STAY WE’LL BOTH DIE, LUZ YOU'RE HURT YOU NEED TO GO NOW IF YOU'RE GOING TO MAKE IT.” Camila struggled to unbuckle her daughter’s seatbelt and open the passenger side door as her daughter fought against her. “I love you, Luz, please survive and make it out of this cariño.” She shoved Luz’s backpack into her arms.</p>
<p>“NO!!-” With all her might Luz’s mom shoved her out of the car, just as the windshield shattered and those monsters poured in. Luz tumbled down the hill that was next to the road, she howled in pain as her body made contact with the ground at the bottom. Luz froze when she heard the blood-curdling screams of her mom. Luz didn’t waste any more time, running in the opposite direction of the road. Her mom’s sacrifice would not be in vain.</p>
<p>Luz ran as fast as she could. Tears poured down her face and her body ached, but the adrenaline rushing through her pushed her onwards. she was not going to die. Not here. Not ever. Not when her mom gave her life so she could live. She was going to beat this world.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Luz was going to survive.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Good deeds</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"I've been walking for days, this fucking sucks ass. I can't believe I was fucking robbed like that. The fucking bastards stole all my shit and my car. This is bullshit." Luz’s brows furrowed, the memory replaying in her head like a broken record.</p><p>It's been a while since she last ate and it shows, her starved body barely has the strength to make Luz drag her feet on the ground, not to mention the sun beating down on her back. The only thing keeping her going was in spite.</p><p>All Luz had left was her hunting knife, which was starting to dull. She thanks whatever shitty higher power is out there that the bandits didn't take it too.</p><p>Her ears perk up at the sound of groaning behind her. Of course, a deady is following her. Hell, she probably looks like one with the physical state she's in. "Goooooo away you undead fucker can't you tell I'm trying to sulk in peace!" pouting when she remembered that the undead doesn’t take no for an answer. "Oh come, fucking, on!" She dramatically punches and kicks the air out of frustration before turning around to finally deal with the deady harassing her.</p><p>Luz unsheaths her knife and drives it through the deady's skull. Yanking the knife out, the recoil almost knocking her over. "Son of a bitch I need to get some food in me."</p><p>Luz kept trudging down the road, hoping to find a convenience store or something. Her stomach is now roaring instead of its previous growling. The noise of her stomach felt like dinner bells for any nearby deadies.</p><p>She halted when she thought her stomach was getting louder, soon realizing it was not in fact her stomach this time, it was the roar of a very VERY loud engine.</p><p>Before she could react, a car came to a screeching stop next to her. Luz coughed and wheezed from the dust kicked up. A woman steps out of the car, her long grey hair cascades down her back like a lion’s mane.</p><p>"Jesus kid you look like shit." The woman chuckles, leaning back against the side of the car smirking. The comment snaps Luz back into reality, and she does have to agree with the smug woman. She does indeed, look,s and feel like shit.</p><p>Luz was caked in a month's worth of dirt and blood. Her jeans were tattered and tore up, her shoes were worn out and falling apart, her shirt was covered in bloodstains.</p><p>"So did your group up n’ ditch you? Or...." The woman snorts and crosses her arms. Her demeanor was very cocky, but she looks like can actually back that cockiness up.</p><p>"Well, random stranger I just met, I’ve been alone from the start." Luz huffed and pointed a calloused finger at the silver-haired woman, “who are you? Why are you even talking to me?”</p><p>The woman paused for a second, stroking her chin as her eyes wandered like she was searching for the right answer. “Huh, I am kinda being suspicious, aren’t I? Well if you must know, I am Eda the Owl lady! And I’m here to help!” She threw her arms out triumphantly, acting as if she was announcing her presence to a stadium of her greatest fans.</p><p>Luz smiles softly as she thinks to herself 'Well this lady is certainly extra with her introductions.' She weakly holds out her hand. "I'm Luz. Luz Noceda." Eda stares down at her hand for a moment, not bothering to shake it.</p><p>"Kid it's the apocalypse, you don't don't need to be so formal." Eda was correct formalities aren't really that important in this world anymore. Especially when the preferred, and most common, way of saying hello is now a gun to your head.</p><p>"Why do you call yourself the Owl Lady?" Luz asked, scratching the back of her neck. She was genuinely curious why someone would give themselves such an odd name that sounded like they were in a movie or TV show.</p><p>"Ok, straight to the point," Luz swears she saw a twinkle in Eda’s eyes as she reached into her car and grabbed a bat clad in barbed wire and rusty nails. "I got my name because of ol' Owlbert here" she swings the heavy bat around and shows Luz the hilt of the bat, it has a little carving of an owl. That's pretty neat.</p><p>Luz was snapped out of her thoughts when Eda cleared her throat. "Do you want a ride to my camp or not?" Luz realizes the woman was opening the car door for her.</p><p>Luz eyed Eda suspiciously, "Sure, as long as you don’t plan on killing me." ‘I’ll just dip if that camp seems shady’ Luz thought as she went over every bad outcome to this situation in her head.</p><p>Eda eyes her up and down and sucks her teeth, letting out an exasperated sigh. "I wish I could hose you off before you get in Hooty here." She says as she slaps the hood of the car, "but I guess I can just make you clean up your filth later when you have the strength to do so."</p><p> </p><p>Luz squints her eyes at Eda, raising a brow. "Is everything about you a reference to owls?" Eda groans and pinches the bridge of her nose while getting in the car.</p><p>"I'm going to count to three, and if you are not in this car by three I'm going to throw you in the trunk" Eda starts counting and Luz gets in the backseat as quickly as possible, not wanting to suffocate in the trunk.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>The drive felt like hours to Luz, her hunger pains were getting worse. "Are we there yet? Why can't I sit in the front seat?" Luz whines like an ill-mannered child.</p><p>"Oh my lord, Luz shut up I already told you that 1. We are about five minutes away and 2. The front seat belongs to Owlbert." Eda grumbles, dragging her hand down her face.</p><p>"Sorry." Luz’s face flushes red, now realizing that she has been kind of an annoying dick to someone who was just trying to help her.</p><p>"It's cool, kid. Everyone gets a little' rough around the edges when you're constantly faced with impending doom." The rest of the drive was silent, except for the sputtering rumble of hooty’s engine.</p><p>They finally parked at the edge of a clearing, outside of a nine-foot fence that surrounded the majority of the surrounding area.</p><p>Eda jumps out of the vehicle bursting with energy for someone who looks to be in their 40s, while Luz is 18 and has to pull herself up out of the vehicle with the handle. She is absolutely awestruck at everything that surrounds her. 'There's actually secure walls. This fucking crazy.' Luz follows the older woman through the gates of the camp.</p><p>Luz’s eyes widened in surprise at the scenery before her. "Wow" is all she could say as she rested her hands on her hips. She noticed a somewhat large house, it looked so rustic and cozy looking. She also notices the surrounding tents and lively people bustling about the community. If you took it all out of context it sort of looked like a really bizarre summer camp.</p><p>A short little man runs up to Eda. He looks like about 5'4ish? He looks like he’s taken the apocalypse thing a little too seriously like it's a mad max movie.</p><p>He's wearing a modified football helmet with spikes on the side of them, assuming they're supposed to resemble horns, yet one is chipped. He's also decked out in black riot gear that looks like it's way too big for him so he just looks like a burnt marshmallow.</p><p>"Luz this is king, he's a good friend of mine, even before all this crap happened." Eda motions to the small man. "He takes care of things while I'm away."</p><p>"I'm the king of survivors" he shouts triumphantly, a proud smile finding its way onto his features. Luz is neither amused nor unamused. She's just really REALLY hungry.</p><p>"Uh, right." She gives the little man a curt nod and then turns back to the rambunctious woman.</p><p>"You should go wash up before dinner. People will start to think I let one of the undead in here!" She slaps Luz’s back as she doubles over laughing at her own joke. Eda is referring to dirt and blood crust on Luz's skin, hair, and clothes. "We have running water but not enough for you to take a long and leisurely shower, just clean yourself and get out. The bathroom is in the house on the second floor."</p><p>Luz moves as fast as her weak and tired legs could go. She can't remember the last time she's felt clean, and she's definitely not going to pass this opportunity up.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Luz shivers as she lets the cold water wash over her body, the dirt, grease, and blood wash off her skin. She lathers up in soap and cleans up as much as she possibly could.</p><p>She steps out of the shower after turning it off. She dries off and gets dressed in her old clothes, the crust on them flaking off as she moves about. She needs to wash them as well. Luz stares at her reflection in the mirror. 'Wow, I look worse than I thought' Luz stares at her rough appearance, her fingers brushing against the scars on her face.</p><p>She had dark circles under her eyes from the many restless nights. Her body was covered in scrapes, cuts, bruises, and scars that reminded her of her endless battles against the world around her. She was thinner than she would like, food had been scarce lately. Lastly, her hair was a mess. She buzzed it a while ago but it had already grown out into a weird sort of tangled mane.</p><p>She finds scissors in one of the cabinets under the sink. A couple of snips and a clean up with her combat knife….well she's not a barber so this is as good as it gets. Her hair was similar to how it looked in the before time, just… messier, to say the least.</p><p>She pulls out the picture of her and her friends. A sad expression finds itself on the young girl's features. 'I hope they're ok and that they made it out of the city. I miss Gus and Willow so much.' She sniffles but quickly pulls herself together before she leaves the bathroom.</p><p>She's not really paying attention to where she's going and ends up bumping into someone, which only ends up knocking her over. "Watch it, nitwit." Luz scowls, picking herself up off the ground so she could put this person in her place.</p><p>"Watch your fuckin’ mouth..." she trails off as her eyes meet familiar but oh so unfriendly ones.</p><p> </p><p>"Amity?..."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I am personally mortified 😏</p><p>IT'S SO HARD TO EXPLAIN BUT I GOT CAUGHT DOING SOMETHING EMBARRASSING AND AAAAHHHH WHY AM I THE WAY I AM</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. And They Were Tentmates</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It simultaneously clicked in both girl’s heads, finally recognizing each other after all these years. Luz’s blood boiled, she had completely forgotten about the girl until now. Seeing Amity had awoken a deep rage in her and she was seething. Baring her teeth and her voice laced with malice, “you fucking bitch. I’LL FUCKING KILL YOU!!” The adrenaline burst in her veins and her mind clouded by fury, Luz lunged at Amity like a rabid animal.</p><p>The punches barely hurt Amity because Luz’s body was so weak from famine, however that did not stop her from being a threat. Amity was too busy shielding her face to realize Luz had picked up a ceramic vase on the table next to them. With the rest of the energy and strength, Luz had left she smashed it over the side of Amity’s head. Amity stumbled backward, her face twisting in pain as she held the side of her head. “YOU FUCKING PSYCHO, WHAT IS YOUR FUCKING PROBLEM?!”</p><p>Luz pointed an accusing finger at Amity, “YOU. YOU ARE MY FUCKING PROBLEM. IF YOU HADN’T JUMPED ME THAT DAY I WOULD HAVE BEEN STRONG ENOUGH TO SAVE MY MOM. SHE WOULDN’T HAVE HAD TO SACRIFICE HERSELF SO I COULD GET A HEAD START. MY MOM IS DEAD BECAUSE OF YOU”</p><p>Eda came to investigate all the commotion, only to be met with two teen girls brawling it out on the 2nd floor of her home. Her brows furrowed as she stormed over to the two girls and pulled them apart. “What the hell is wrong with you two?! Luz, I just brought you here, and you’re already getting in fights and trashing my house?! And Amity what did you do to piss off the newbie?!” The two girls stared daggers at each other while Eda continued to lecture them. “We are a community! That means that you both need to get your shit together and get along! Now, here’s what we’re going to do! Amity you’re going to go see Viney about your head, and Luz you’re going to go with her and make sure she gets there in one piece. Now no more fighting!” Eda huffed and let both of the girls go, “Teenagers, I swear.”</p><hr/><p>Amity led the way to the infirmary, neither of the girls spoke. The tense atmosphere around them earned them a few stares from onlookers, Luz just glared back at them as if to say ‘what the hell are you looking at.’ Amity grew tired of this behavior, sighing as she ran a hand through her thick brown hair, “no one thinks you’re tough for being an asshole and giving people dirty looks.”</p><p>Luz smirked and crossed her arms, and in the smuggest way possible said “I’d watch it if I were you, unless you want me to find another vase.”</p><p>Amity whirled around to face Luz, her face burning bright red from anger.<br/>“I can’t wait for the owl lady to throw you out on your ass, you ungrateful fucking loser.”</p><p>Luz just sneered and puffed out her chest arrogantly. “Aw, you still need mommy to protect you? you’re pathetic and weak.”<br/>Amity was pissed, she gripped Luz’s shirt pulling her forward, “your mom isn’t dead because of me. She’s dead because she made a choice to preserve her piece of shit, waste of space daughter.” She then shoved Luz onto the ground, “fuck it, I’ll go to the infirmary by myself.” Amity stormed off leaving Luz in the dirt to stew on her words. They stung, but Luz didn’t expect any less from Amity.</p><hr/><p>Everyone ate together on a makeshift patio. It had a homey sort of feel to it, like a 4th of July barbeque. People laughed and conversed as if the world outside the walls didn’t exist, it was odd to Luz but she appreciated the normalcy to an extent. The only thing she was really focussed on was the pile of food in front of her. She scarfed it down, barely even chewing it. She just kept eating until Eda finally had to cut her off.</p><p>Suddenly Eda stood from her seat, tapping her fork against her glass of water. “Attention everyone! I would like to welcome our newest friend here, Luz! Come on kid, stand up so everyone can see you!” Giving Luz no time to react, she tugged the poor girl up to her feet by her arm. Her face flushed from embarrassment for being put on the spot. Quite a few people clapped and hollered, giving her a merry welcome. Luz wanted to crawl under a rock and die, please god kill her now.</p><hr/><p>After dinner she pulled Eda aside, she needed to ask an important question. “Why did you save me?” Luz asked, staring at the ground and picking at the skin on her thumb nervously. She wasn’t usually this timid but something about Eda made her feel safe to be vulnerable, almost like she was a mother figure.</p><p>Eda smiled softly, resting her hand on Luz’s shoulder. “Kid it’s a brutal world out there, a kid like you shouldn’t have been out there alone. Plus, people are a resource. This place doesn’t run on magic, people work hard to keep this place together.” She ruffled Luz’s hair making her laugh, “I also have a good feeling about you, even though you already got in a fight within your first day.”</p><p>Luz’s demeanor quickly changed, her smile turning into a frown. “Sorry about that, me and Amity just have a history… I knew her from before.” Luz sighed and slipped her hands into her pockets, “she used to bully me in high school, and the day this all began her and her friend jumped me and hurt me pretty bad. Then when my mom and I got cornered by the dead she was forced to make a choice between her life or mine, and even if we were to both escape I would have just slowed us down. She sacrificed herself so I could escape and get a headstart running.” She clenched her jaw, her voice wavering as she spoke. “If Amity hadn’t been such a homophobic piece of shit… maybe my mom would still be alive.”</p><p>Eda sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, “Kid, I’m not saying you have to forgive her or even like her, but you guys gotta learn to coexist.” She paused for a moment, and then her eyes lit up and a mischievous grin found its way onto her face. “Executive decision here, you two are now going to be tentmates.”</p><p>Luz tensed up, she looked at Eda like she was crazy. “Excuse me? That doesn’t seem like a good idea, considering we got in a fistfight within seconds of seeing each other after 4 years.”</p><p>Eda smirked and flicked Luz in the forehead, making the girl flinch in surprise. “Don’t care. I’m in charge so I make the rules. You’ll be sharing a tent for the next few months, and if you still can’t stand each other then I’ll let you have your own tent or move you in with someone else.” Eda paused when she noticed the distressed look on Luz’s face, so to lighten the mood she gave her a soft punch in the shoulder. “Cheer up kiddo, how bad could it be?”</p><hr/><p>Eda moved Luz into Amity’s tent after their discussion, let’s just say you could cut the tension with a knife. Both girls hated the idea and were both a little bit salty at Eda for coming up with it and then enforcing it.</p><p>It was mostly silent until Luz spoke up, “I’m not a waste of space...” She was trying to hide it, but Amity could tell she was hurt.</p><p>Amity considered that her words may have been a bit too harsh, but she wasn’t going to apologize or admit she was wrong. “Ok.”</p><p>Neither of them spoke after that, instead, they went to bed in awkward silence. Both girls were exhausted so the discomfort didn’t last for long.</p><p> </p><p>These next few months were going to be rough...</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I think I just experienced my first really bad panic attack. Idk why I keep trying to convince myself im an extrovert. I'm not, and I put myself in bad situations that ultimately end with me feeling like shit. It's whateva tho, how was y'alls halloween?</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Nightfall pt 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Nightfall is 3 parts this chapter will be in Luz's pov while the next will be in Amity's. It's more so we learn more about each character.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When she woke up in the morning Luz almost forgot that she was living in a camp now. Grumbling she pulled off the blankets and got dressed, she hated mornings. Luz raised her hands to the sky, letting out a long low groan as she stretched her arms. All was peaceful in her stretching until a pillow smacked her in the face. Great. She’s awake.</p><p>Amity’s voice was low and raspy, “shut up, you’re being too damn loud.” She could barely open her eyes, how was her aim so accurate? Luz’s eye twitched in frustration as she launched the pillow back at Amity.</p><p>“Fuck off and go back to sleep, fucking bum ass.” Luz didn’t need to be this aggravated this early in the morning. Amity mumbled something under her breath, which Luz assumed was a snide remark and didn’t think much of it.</p><hr/><p>Breakfast was uneventful, Luz ate her food and chatted with Eda. she felt strangely comfortable with this woman for some reason. She didn’t like her call when it came to her living with Amity, however she deeply respected Eda for doing what she thought was best for the community.</p><p>“Kid, I have a chore for you to do. Nothing major, I just need you to patrol the outside perimeter with Amity. Make sure there’s nothing wrong with the wall.” The older woman spoke nonchalantly as she took a sip from her coffee.</p><p>Though she respects Eda, Luz is beginning to get frustrated with this old kook. She threw her hands up in the air dramatically to emphasize her annoyance, “why do you keep forcing me to interact with that bastard child, Blight.” She slammed her fist down on the table baring her teeth, “I don’t like her, why do you keep putting me in these situations with her!”</p><p>Eda calmly set her coffee mug down and rubbed her temples while sighing. “Luz, do you even know what the phrase ‘bastard child’ means?”</p><p>Luz paused for a moment, scratching her chin before she spoke, “well she’s a bastard. And she acts like a child!” She grumbled and crossed her arms, pouting.</p><p>Eda hummed as she took another sip from her coffee, rolling her eyes. “Mhm, she’s the one acting like a child.” She snapped her fingers and pointed in the directions of the tents, signaling Luz to go get Amity.</p><hr/><p>The two girls walked along the outer walls, an awkward silence between them. Neither of them wanted to talk about what Luz said last night. Luz felt like an idiot, she shouldn’t have said anything. She liked it better when they hated each other rather than be uncomfortable with each other, I mean they still hated each other but before it was just hatred.</p><p>Amity finally spoke up, “so do you want to split up? Or…” She seemed a little bit docile today, or more tolerable Luz should say.</p><p>“I think it’s best we stick together, we can watch each other's backs that way,” Luz didn’t like the idea of being around Amity more than she had to, but the buddy system is important for safety. Amity mumbled under her breath a 2nd time since this morning, and Luz had enough. She whirled around to face Amity squinting her eyes at her, “Is there something you want to say to me, Blight?”</p><p>Amity scoffed and folded her arms, “I said I don’t trust you to do that!” She was looking down on Luz, and it royally pissed her off.</p><p>Luz took back her previous statement, Amity was being her usual bitchy self. She was fuming, ‘god why was she so insufferable’ she thought as she shoved Amity back. “And just when I was starting to think you were even slightly tolerable, you go and pull this shit. What the fuck is wrong with you?! Ya’ know I was just starting to move on from yesterday, but you really are still just a bad person.” She shoved her again, she didn’t want to get in another fist fight but if this girl says some stupid shit again Luz is going to knock her on her ass.</p><p>Amity shoved her back, snarling as she spoke. “I don’t need your validation of what a good person is! And you want to talk about good and bad people, Luz?! The first thing you did after not seeing me all these years smashed a vase over my head and blame me for the death of your mom!” She shoved Luz even harder, actually making the girl almost trip this time. “Grow up! We’re not in high school anymore, just get over it!”</p><p>Luz snapped and lunged at Amity, tackling her and taking them both down as they fell down the side of the hill they were on. Both girls grunting as they hit the bottom, pulling themselves off the ground and dusting themselves off. “Ugh… everything hurts…” Luz groaned as she rubbed her shoulder.</p><p>Amity was practically shaking with rage, she looked like she was about to explode with how red her face was. “Look what you fucking did! Why are you always so impulsive-” Amity was cut off by a deady lunging at her and forcing her to the ground, its jaws snapping in her face like a feral dog.</p><p>Luz sprinted towards Amity, sending a powerful kick to the undead bastard’s skull. “Get off her you fucker!” She stomped on its head until it stopped moving, she shuddered when she finally looked down on the remains of the attacker. The smell of rotting guts is something you can never quite get fully used to.</p><p>Luz pulled her off the ground, Amity just cleared her throat trying to hold up her snotty composure. “Thank you, but I could’ve handled myself.”</p><p>Luz just rolled her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose, “you could have just stopped at thank you.” They were going to make their way up the hill until they were interrupted by growling and snarling, soon realizing that they were surrounded by the undead with no way up the hill. ‘Shit’ is all Luz could think.</p><p>“I’m just asking for the sake of curiosity, but do you perhaps have any idea on how to get out of this alive?” Amity was too prideful to admit it, but she really needed Luz’s help on this one. Truth be told Amity hasn’t been outside the wall that much and can count the number of deadies she’s killed on one hand. She’s at a loss of what to do.</p><p>“No plan! Just shut up and run!” Luz grabbed Amity’s hand and booked it back down the hill, both girls just kept running not looking back. The girls could spot a cabin in the distance and they sprinted for it. Luz kicked the door in and Amity barricaded it with the furniture inside of the cabin.</p><p>“Shut the blinds!” Amity shouted as she pointed towards the windows, Luz scrambled to do so. Once everything was in place they finally heard the thumping of mangled cold dead hands against the walls. Amity released a breath she didn’t even know she was holding, Luz slumped against the wall running a hand through her brunette lochs.</p><p>Luz sighed as she slid down the wall, clearly drained. “I’m surprised we made it out of that, it was fucking crazy dude.” Amity chuckled slightly at Luz’s choice of language and leaned her head back against the wall.</p><p>Amity Folded her arms, “You're right, it was crazy.” Her demeanor softened ever so slightly, letting herself relax a little bit around Luz. I mean she did save her from certain death.</p><p>“Hopefully they move on, I don’t want to be out here after dark,” Luz said as if it was just a minor inconvenience, rather than a heavily dangerous situation. She raised her brow when she realized the Amity had suddenly become tense. “What’s up? Why are you being weird?”</p><p>Amity rubbed the back of her neck, “It’s just I’ve never been outside at night, I’m kinda nervous.” She stared down at the ground not wanting to meet Luz’s eyes.</p><p>Luz softened a tad when she realized the Amity was genuinely scared, “hey it’s cool. I understand.” I mean sure Amity annoys the shit out of her, but she’s not going to be a dick about a rational fear.</p><p>Amity’s ears perked up as she cocked her head slightly, “you’re not going to make fun of me?” She was actually surprised, she thought Luz would take any opportunity to get back at her because of the stuff she did in high school.</p><p>Luz scoffed and then smirked, “I’m not gonna make fun of you for that. You have a right to be scared.” She still couldn’t stand Amity, but that doesn’t mean she couldn’t enjoy this cease-fire for a bit.</p><p>Amity got up to check the windows, she groaned and smacked her palm against her forehead as she sat back down. Scowling as she spoke, “I don’t think we're getting out of this before nightfall. Quite a few more friends just arrived to the party.”</p><p>Luz hummed in response, “that sucks.” She could feel her eyelids getting heavy. Her head nodding back as she could barely open her eyes.</p><p> </p><p>Maybe a small nap wouldn’t hurt. Right?</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Nightfall pt 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Nightfall is 3 parts this chapter will be in Luz's pov while the next will be in Amity's. It's more so we learn more about each character.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When Luz woke up she found herself laying on a makeshift bed of old clothes and blankets. When did she get here? She groaned and tried to rub the sleep out of her eyes, blinking hard a few times for extra measure. She scanned the room for Amity, finding the brown haired girl checking the blinds to see if the deadies numbers had thinned out. The moonlight reflected off her golden eyes and illuminated her pale skin, ‘she’d be really pretty if she wasn’t such an asshole.’ Luz thought as she admired Amity’s features.</p><p>“Oh...You’re awake.” Luz was snapped out of her thoughts when Amity spoke up. Amity’s expression was neutral, but there was relief behind those stone-cold eyes. “You’re welcome for the bed, you can thank me by taking the next watch.” Amity plopped down on the DIY bed pushing Luz off before curling up and facing away from her. Luz just snickered as she got off from her place from the ground.</p><p>“Thanks Amity” her voice was soft and a bit raspy from waking up only a few minutes ago, she rolled her shoulders and popped her neck to loosen up her joints. She wondered what time it was, she was asleep for a pretty long time judging from the position of the moon. ‘Probably around midnight’ she thought as she leaned up against the barricade. She found it funny how snarls and thumping of death’s hands relaxed her enough to drift off to sleep today, usually they do quite the opposite. A small smile adorned itself on her face as she glanced over at Amity who was already fast asleep, she was thankful that the annoying girl actually decided to let her sleep.</p><p>Luz turned her gaze to the world outside their temporary fortress, her smile leaving once she made eye contact with a deady. She noticed a bite mark on its shoulder and pursed her lips. She hoped that if she ever got bit someone would have the decency to put her out of her misery, turning is truly a fate worse than death. The process is a horrific sight let alone how it must feel to experience, she’s seen it all before. Truthfully, she hasn't always been alone, she’s traveled with others before. It’s always the same thing, they all eventually punch their ticket. It bothered Luz, why was she always the one that lives? It’s not like she was a coward, it was her luck that was keeping her alive.</p><p>Actually a few days before Eda had picked her up from the side of the road, she was traveling with a girl. They had only recently met and Luz was just starting to warm up to her, but of course she got bit. Luz knew she had to do the right thing, she put the barrel of her gun between the girl’s eyes and pulled the trigger. It wasn’t hard, and it wasn’t like she didn’t care for the girl, it’s more so that she’s had to do this many times before.</p><p>She’s killed, she won’t sugar coat it. Directly and indirectly, friend and foe, Luz has people’s blood on her hands whether she likes it or not. It was a burden that she quickly became desensitized to. You have to be cruel in this world in order to live, it’s now survival of the fittest, and Luz was determined to survive. No matter the cost.</p><p>Luz tore her eyes away from the window when she saw Amity stir in her sleep, “I wonder what she’s dreamin’ about.” She approached the sleeping Amity, crouching down as she draped a large jacket over her that Luz had found on the floor next to her.</p><p>She sighed as she stood up, and retook her post as lookout. She examined the scrapes on her arms, it was a pretty hard fall down that hill. ‘Maybe if Amity wasn’t being such a jerk we wouldn’t be in this mess.’ Luz thought, but deep down she knew that they were trapped in this cabin because of her temper. That is definitely something she needed to work on. She chuckled when she remembered what kind of girl she was before the apocalypse, goofy and naive. She missed a lot of things, like anime, Azura, ...Gus and Willow. ‘Whatever, I don’t have time to unpack those feelings, I have to keep moving forward.’ Luz thought as she did a headcount on the deadies. Thankfully, most of them had left and there were just a few stragglers. If this keeps up they’ll be able to leave at sunrise.</p><p>Luz’s eyes widened and she smacked her palm against her forehead, how was she going to explain this to Eda. She was so dead when they got home, the poor woman was probably worried sick. ‘She’s going to be so pissed when she finds out we fought again.’ Luz brushed a strand of hair out of her face, and exhaled a breath of anxiety. Eda was probably going to give her extra chores, or make her clean hooty. She shuddered at the thought, she didn’t care what Eda says, that car is musty.</p><p>Her ears perked up when she heard grumbling and muttering, Amity’s awake. Luz turned her gaze up to the sky outside the dusty window. She hummed in surprise when she saw that the sun was rising. She didn’t even realize how much time had passed, I guess that’s the power of daydreaming.</p><p>“Is it the morning yet?” Amity’s voice was hoarse as she stood up and stretched. The floorboards creaked under her boots as she approached the window Luz was at.</p><p>Luz exhaled through her nose and smirked, “morning sleeping beauty, and yeah you woke up just in time to watch the sunrise.” Amity landed a playful punch on Luz’s shoulder.</p><p>“Don’t call me that, weirdo.” Amity said as Luz huffed and rubbed her assaulted shoulder. The girls watched the sunrise in a peaceful silence, it would have been perfect if the undead weren’t trying to eat them through the glass. It was kinda funny because their faces were smushed up against the window like kids at an aquarium. Amity finally spoke up as she cracked her knuckles, “ok I’m bored of it. Let's get our gear and come up with a game plan on how to get the hell out of here. I say we just rush them and book it back to camp.” Her plan clearly wasn’t a suggestion by the tone of her voice.</p><p>“I don’t see any other way to deal with it.” Luz said as she shrugged her shoulders, she didn’t really have any idea of what to do. Luz watched as Amity picked up the coat that Luz had used to shield her from the cold while she slept.</p><p>“Thanks for giving me this. I’m keeping it.” Her expression was flat, someone wasn’t much of a morning person. Luz chuckled as she picked up their gear, and handed Amity’s to her.</p><p>“You’re welcome, ass hat.” Luz responded as she strapped on her holster, checking if the safety was on.</p><p>Amity rolled her eyes and shoved her. “Shut up, let’s go.” Her and Luz cleared the barricade as they prepared to put Amity’s risky half-baked strategy in motion.</p><p>Amity threw the door open and sunk her knife into the nearest undead obstacle. Luz took out a few with her gun, holstering it when they cleared out the stragglers. Neither of them wasted any more time as they bolted it in the direction of camp.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Oh if only they knew what awaited them when they got back.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Nightfall pt 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>TW: HOMOPHOBIA AND CHILD ABUSE</p><p>This chapter is written in Amity's POV</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Amity stared out the dusty window, sucking her teeth as her brows furrowed. “Ok so since we’re going to be stuck here for a while I suggest we establish some things. Like no bringing up old shit, this situation is already infuriating enough without your constant whining about how-... Luz?” Amity perked up when the sounds of soft snoring filled her ears. She crossed her arms and tapped her foot in annoyance, “bastard left me to deal with this alone.”</p><p>Amity scanned the room around them, the cabin was fairly small and only had one room. There wasn’t much besides a dresser, bed frame, and a few chairs and a table. Pictures of an old married couple adorned the top of the dresser, dust claiming most of the picture frame as its own. The cabin was a pretty basic setup and was clearly just a vacation home.</p><p>Amity sighed as she began digging through the dresser, dumping all clothes on the ground so she could form a makeshift bed. She had also found a few throw blankets and added them to the pile, it wasn’t much but it should be comfortable enough. She cautiously approached the sleeping Luz, not wanting to wake her up. She wasn’t being careful because she cared about Luz’s rest, she just wanted her to stay asleep so she could have some peace and quiet. Amity mindfully picked up the sleeping girl and set her down on the bed she made.</p><p>Amity returned to her spot, leaning up against the wall as her mind started to wander. She scratched her chin, deep in thought as she recalled the events from the day the apocalypse began. What a bad day that was…</p><hr/><p>Boscha laughed as she and Amity Left poor Luz on the floor bruised and bloodied. The strawberry-blonde threw her arm over Amity’s shoulders. “That was crazy dude! You should have seen your face, it was all like ‘GRRR AHH’.” Boscha mimicked a growling animal, baring her teeth and throwing her hands in front of her as she pretended to have claws.</p><p>Amity bursted out laughing, clutching her stomach. A wide grin found its way onto her face, “you’re so stupid.” The girl went to brush a piece of hair out of her face when she hissed in pain, her grin quickly turned into a frown. She had to admit, that little shit hit pretty hard. Her parents were going to be pissed, her dad especially.</p><p>Boscha stood in front of her, stopping the minty-haired girl in her tracks. She eyed Amity quizzically, “why do you suddenly look all bummed out, we just put the little fag in her place, you should be happy.” Boscha frowned, crossing her arms as she spoke. “Don’t tell me you’re feeling bad for her?-”</p><p>Amity cut her off, scowling and shoving her hands in her pockets, “ew no! I don’t give a fuck about her, I’m worried about how pissed my dad is gonna get when he sees my face.” Boscha nodded her head understandingly and dropped the subject. She wasn’t going to pry into Amity’s personal life.</p><p>The girls walked to their next class, making small talk as they went. Boscha talked about whatever guy she was interested in at the moment, and Amity just half-listened. She didn’t have time for relationships, she needed to focus on getting into a nice college that would make her parents proud. Once they entered the class, Gus and Willow were already staring them down.</p><p>“Great, it looks like dork 1 and dork 2 want to pick a fight... The nerds are feeling bold today, huh Amity?” Boscha nudged Amity’s shoulder with a chuckle. Amity just gave her a half smile and took her seat.</p><p>All was fine until the loud speaker beckoned for Amity to the front office, “Amity Blight to the dean's office, I repeat Amity Blight to the dean’s office.” Her blood froze, and her eyes widening as the teacher glared down at her in disapproval. She quickly packed up all her stuff, she could feel everyone's judgemental stares and it made her skin crawl.</p><p>The campus police officer was already waiting for her outside the door, her heart leaped into her throat. She gripped the straps of her backpack as she sat down in the golf cart, not uttering a word as she was driven up to the office.</p><p>Amity already knew what was coming when the dean called her into his office. His wrinkled forehead was creased with distress and his voice wavered as he spoke, “Amity, how do I put this delicately…” His voice trailed off, obviously nervous because of Amity’s status. Considering her family is filthy rich and funds most of the school's extracurriculars, he needs to choose his next words wisely. He folds his hands and clears his throat, “we caught you on camera assaulting Miss Noceda, and unfortunately we are going to have to suspend you for a week. We also called your father and he is on his way to pick you up. You can wait for him at the front of the school.”</p><p>Amity felt an immense weight on her shoulders as her heart pounded. “Yes sir…” She grabbed her bag from the floor and quickly made her way to the parking lot.</p><p>‘Oh no, oh no, oh no’ is all she could think as she saw her father’s limoscene approach. She gulped and got in the backseat when it came to a stop. Her father sat in front of her with his hands folded, staring at her coldly. She felt herself shrink under his harsh gaze.</p><p>He didn’t even need to raise his voice, Amity already knew he was pissed. His tone was ice cold as he spoke, “besides attacking other children and being a shame to your family, I have another thing to speak to you about, and you are not to speak, you are to listen. Quietly.” He paused as Amity slowly nodded her head. “Good. Where was I? Ah yes, one of the maids was cleaning your room this morning and found something… quite interesting.” Amity’s heart sank as she already knew what he was referring to. “See I always thought that your lack of interest in boys was odd, but I always chalked it up as you being dedicated to your studies. That is until a maid presented to me a lockbox filled… with swimsuit magazines. Now Amity you know how your mother and I feel about homosexuality-”</p><p>Amity panicked and cut him off, “Those are Edric’s! He and Emira were probably just trying to play a prank on me!-” Amity flinched as she felt a harsh stinging pain in her cheek, her father had slapped her.</p><p>His voice boomed as he spoke, “not only can you not follow simple directions, you are a liar as well! How dare you disrespect me in such a way Amity. You are a despicable child!” Amity’s eyes screwed shut and her jaw clenched as her father struck her again. Fresh bruises forming on her cheeks. "I will not stand by and let my daughter taint the Blight name with such filth.” His words stung more than his slaps and Amity had to fight hard not to cry.</p><p>Once they made it home Amity ran up to her room and slammed the door. She flopped down onto her bed and stared up at the ceiling. Suddenly there was a soft knock on the door, she already knew who it was. “Come in.” Amity’s voice wavered as she sat up from her bed.</p><p>Emira cautiously entered the room with Edric tailing her, “Hey mittens, are you doing ok?” She said as she placed her hand on Amity’s shoulder, only for it to be swatted away.</p><p>Amity forced a smile even though she was close to breaking down in tears, “I’m fine, why do you ask?” Edric and Emira shared a look of concern as they sat next to their little sister on her bed.</p><p>Edric wrapped his arm around her shoulder as he frowned, “dad and mom are talking about sending you to uh… conversion therapy…” He whispered the last part but Amity still caught it. That was the last straw, Amity threw her face into her hands as she sobbed.</p><p>She cried and cried until she couldn’t anymore, “I tried to hide it. I tried to make it go away, why are they doing this to me?” Emira leaned her head on Amity’s shoulder, she let the poor girl let it all out.</p><p>The emotional moment was put on pause when all three siblings' phones started buzzing, they all stared at each other in confusion as they pulled out their phones. It was an emergency alert, it didn’t say what it was for though. Amity scrolled through Instagram, seeing multiple videos and pictures of people getting eaten… by other people? Amity’s door flew open, it was their mother.</p><p>“Children get in the car, the city is being evacuated, hurry now.” Their mother was holding only two bags which confused Amity. She tried to follow her siblings but was forcibly shoved back into her room. “You are not coming with us Amity.” Her mother slammed the door and locked it from the other side. She could hear her siblings and her mom arguing through the door.</p><p>Amity panic and banged on the door, “let me out! I’LL DIE IF YOU LEAVE ME!!!” No one came to her rescue though. She ran to her window, only to see her family’s car backout of the driveway and drive off...</p><hr/><p>Tears slid down her cheeks as she recalled that day, Amity hated being reminded of it but the situation she and Luz were in was all too familiar. She quickly wiped her tears and pulled herself together. That wasn’t important right now, what’s important is that they survive the night.</p><p>Amity gazed up at the moon, leaning against the windowsill in a peaceful moment. It was disrupted when she felt someone staring at her. She turned around to meet Luz’s tired eyes,</p><p> </p><p>“Oh...You’re awake.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I know this chapter is garbage I just needed to pump out a chapter cause i might be taking a small hiatus because my dog passed away last night and im kinda bummed out</p><p>Anyways criticism is welcomed and i will come back to fix this chapter</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Snitch</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When Luz and Amity got back to camp it was made very clear that something was wrong by the way the guards were looking at them. They all looked like they were going to burst out in laughter at any moment, some of their faces burned bright red from how hard they were trying to hold it in. Finally the most mature of the bunch approached them before they made it through the gates, “Miss Eda would like to see you inside the house, She wants to talk to you both.”</p><p>One of the guards leaned over the railing as she smirked, “you're in trouble!!” she dragged out the word ‘trouble’ with a purr. Both Luz and Amity gulped as they made their dreaded trek across the clearing to the house.</p><hr/><p>The girls were sitting on the old couch as Eda reprimanded them, occasionally throwing her hands into the air for emphasis on her frustration. “Do you know how worried I was?! I sent you out to do the simplest of tasks that should have taken an hour at most! How did you end up just getting back now a day later!” Luz shrunk in her seat, she hasn’t been lectured by a parental figure in a very long time.</p><p>Amity mumbled something under breath that only Luz had heard and she snarled as she spoke, “Amity don’t you fucking dare, so help you god you better not say shit!-”</p><p>Eda scowled as she held her hand out to stop Luz from threatening Amity any further. “No Luz, I want to hear what Amity has to say.”</p><p>Luz stared daggers at Amity, she glanced smugly at Luz before speaking. “We were doing as you said when Luz picked a fight with me and pushed me down a hill, then we got surrounded and got trapped in an abandoned cabin for the night.”</p><p>Luz threw a pillow at Amity and stood abruptly from her chair, “you’re such a bitch Amity!” Luz balled her fist and was about to do much worse than throw a pillow, that is until Eda stopped her.</p><p>The taller woman stood in front of Luz with her arms crossed, “Luz I have had it with this behavior. Go to your tent!” The women pointed to the door behind Luz.</p><p>Luz’s eyes widened in shock, she then quickly scowled and threw her arms out as she spoke. “You can’t do that I’m 18 and you’re not my mom!” Eda faltered a bit, Luz realized she had hurt the only mother figure she’s had since before the apocalypse.</p><p>Luz stared at the ground before huffing and storming out, slamming the door behind her. There was an awkward silence between Eda and the younger girl after Luz had left. She rested her hands on her hips and forced a smile. “You teenagers are going to be the death of me I swear,” Eda said trying to lighten the mood. It didn’t work.</p><hr/><p>Amity unzipped the tent and crawled inside, taking off her boots and jacket before flopping down on her sleeping bag. She noticed Luz was already bundled up inside her blankets and facing away from Amity. She sat up in her bed and stared at Luz, “Hey.” Luz ignored her and sunk deeper into her blankets. Amity tapped her shoulder roughly and raised her voice, “Luz! I know you can hear me! Why were you being a dick to Eda? It’s not her fault you’re a whiny brat that can’t control her temper.”</p><p>Luz rolled over to face her, giving her a cold glare, “mind your own business. Snitch.” She turned away again and covered her head with her pillow to block out Amity’s nagging.</p><p>‘The nerve of this little shit!’ Amity thought as she got ready for bed. She laid down and shut her eyes, she’ll deal with it in the morning.</p><hr/><p>When Amity had woken up in the morning Luz was already gone. She sighed and got dressed and slipped on her boots, frowning as she did so. She was going to give that little prick a piece of her mind when she found her.</p><p>When she left the tent she was immediately lost in the crowd of other settlers in their camp, the mornings were always the busiest times of the day. The people passing by gave her a small wave or a curt good morning. She stared up at the sky, feeling a drop of water splash on the tip of her nose. Crap. It’s raining. The sprinkling soon turned into pouring, as Amity hurried to throw a tarp over her tent. Many others doing the same with theirs, some, unfortunately, had to use tree branches.</p><p>When all was said and done she grabbed the jacket Luz had given her and set off to go find the brunette girl. It didn’t take long before she found the girl sitting under the patio eating breakfast.</p><p>Amity glowered and stormed up to the girl and slammed her hand on the table next to her. Luz continued eating her breakfast, not even bothering to look up at her. “Look at me. Noceda.” Amity did not like to be ignored and this girl was trying her patience.</p><p>Luz took another bite of her oatmeal and then set down her spoon, staring straight ahead. “No, go away. Snitch.” She got up and rinsed out her bowl in a bucket.</p><p>Amity was fuming as she followed Luz around like a lost puppy, “stop calling me that!” Luz just continued to ignore her.</p><p>“Go. Away. Snitch” Luz was avoiding Amity for a reason, why was she not getting the hint? Luz hated her, and being around her made Luz want to punch her in her stupid face. Her solution to this was avoiding Amity like the plague. She just had to put up with this for the next few months, and then it’ll be over and she could have her own tent.</p><p> </p><hr/><p>The rain poured down on both girls as they walked around camp bickering, earning them a few concerned stares. Luz picked up her walking pace as the taller girl effortlessly kept up with her. “Stop ignoring me, Noceda!-”</p><p>Luz abruptly stopped in her tracks and turned around to face Amity, tears of frustration in her eyes. “Were you not given enough attention as a kid?! God, you’re so annoying. You are so despicable!” Luz smiled in contempt as she saw hurt contort the girl's expression into that of a dejected frown. She turned to walk away when she got whacked in the head by something wet and grimy. Luz touched the back of her head and then brought her hand in front of her face to see...Mud? THAT FUCKER THREW MUD AT HER.</p><p>Amity felt herself start to cry, “fuck you, Luz.” She shook with rage as she spoke, gritting her teeth and forcing herself to stop the tears that just kept coming.</p><p>Luz whirled around to face her, her anger quickly disappearing as she saw Amity’s saddened state. ‘damn my good heart’ Luz thought as she cautiously approached Amity. She exhaled softly before she spoke, “I’m sorry. You’re not despicable. You’re just really mean Amity, and I don’t like being around you. Please just go away.” Luz just walked away and never looked back, disappearing into the crowd of people going about their day.</p><p> </p><p>Amity had a lot to think about.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Things get spicy in the next chapter and you'll finally get some actual lumity 💚💜</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Messy Drunk</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>TW: UNDERAGE DRINKING</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Three weeks had passed since that day and neither girl had spoken much to each other. When they did acknowledge each other's existence the exchanges were always brief. ‘Eda is looking for you,’ ‘You dropped that,’ ‘Hey can you pass me that?’ The other would very rarely respond with words, most of the time they just hummed or nodded. This was one of those days…</p><hr/><p> </p><p>Amity poked her head inside of the tent with a look of discomfort on her face, “Uh… Eda wants to talk to you.” Luz nodded in response as she finished tying her shoes, pushing herself off the ground. She made her way to the house, the cold breeze blowing her wild hair forward. She needed another haircut.</p><p>Luz opened the door only to be swooped into a tight hug by a hyper Eda. “Kid you’ll never believe what just happened! My men found an old warehouse that was absolutely stocked with moonshine! Isn’t that great?!” She then realized Luz was not as excited as she was, and was just staring at her confused.</p><p>Luz spoke softly, “what’s… moonshine?” She was nervous that Eda was going to make fun of her, but instead, the silver-haired woman just smirked and placed a hand on Luz’s shoulder.</p><p>The woman spoke in a mischievous tone as her smirk grew bigger, “why don’t I just show you?” Luz didn’t like the sound of that, but was she going to do it anyway? The answer was yes. Eda handed her a glass mason jar with what appeared to be water... oh no. Oh no, that is not water. Luz took a swig and was about to spit it out before Eda covered her mouth, “don’t be a little bitch Luz. You are not going to waste my alcohol, now swallow it.” Luz nodded and swallowed the Liquid with tears in her eyes, while Eda was just cackling maniacally.</p><p>Luz’s voice was hoarse as she spoke, “why is it spicy?” Eda burst out laughing before taking a sip from the jar, crinkling her nose from the burning sensation.</p><p>Eda slapped Luz on her back before sighing softly, “cause it’s basically rubbing alcohol, kid.” She then stuck the jar out to Luz while grinning. “Want some more?” Luz quickly shook her head no. Eda just shrugged and took another sip. “Eh, more for me! Oh, wait! I was going to tell you that we're throwing a party tonight. Don’t miss it! Now get out so I can drink in peace.” She ushered Luz out the door in a hurry to be alone, slamming it shut behind her.</p><p>‘I wonder how they throw parties here?’ Luz thought, she soon remembered that she has no idea how they throw parties anywhere because she’s never been to one. Tonight will be her first party so she needs to look nice, she’ll start by taking a much-needed shower. She shouted through the door, “Eda I’m coming back in!” All that could be heard in response was a groan of displeasure.</p><hr/><p>The patio was illuminated by the soft glow of candles and was filled with lively people. Luz hoped that she wouldn't embarrass herself, having never been invited to a party. She wore the nicest clothes she had currently, which was just her normal clothes but clean. She gulped and puffed out her chest to feign confidence, and approached the party.</p><p>Luz snaked her way through the crowd of people, quite a few of them inebriated. 'Where's Eda?' She thought as she stood on her tippy toes to try and see over the crowd. Out of nowhere she was lifted off the ground and mounted on someone's shoulders. Her eyes widen in shock as she tries to steady herself "What the fuck?!" Luz looks down to see who had picked her up, only to see a piss-drunk Amity looking up at her with a dumb grin.</p><p>She sets Luz down as carefully as an intoxicated person can, and stares at her intensely before bursting out in laughter. "Hey, Luz... You liken' the party?" Her words slurred together as she spoke, and Luz had to listen hard if she wanted to make out what the taller girl was saying.</p><p>Luz backed up a bit, scrunching up her nose in disgust when she smelt the alcohol on Amity's breath. "Jesus, how much have you had to drink?" She didn't respond, only taking a step closer to Luz and swinging her arm over the brunette's shoulder. Luz sighed in exasperation, "ok Blight, let's go set you down on the benches. You're cut off for the rest of the night!" She's never had to take care of someone drunk before, mostly cause no one is dumb enough to get drunk when you need to be alert at all times. The girls hobbled over to the sitting area and sat down, 'I'm just gonna stay here until she sobers up.' Luz thought, soon feeling a pair of eyes boring into the side of her head.</p><p>Luz turned to look at Amity, jumping in surprise when she was only inches away from her face. Amity had a shit-eating grin on her face as she managed to collect her drunken brain cells together and form the following sentence. “You’re pretty, Luz.”</p><p>Luz grimaced and shoved Amity’s face away, “yeah? And you’re drunk. And way too close!” Luz huffed and crossed her arms, she didn’t want to babysit Amity but it was the responsible thing to do. Luz was torn away from her pouting when she heard quiet sobbing. She turned to look at Amity, and sure enough, the golden-eyed girl was bawling like a baby.</p><p>Amity looks to Luz with tears streaming down her rosy cheeks and snot dribbling out of her nose, “you don’t think I’m pretty?”</p><p>Luz’s face lit up red from embarrassment as she fumbled with her words, “I-.. I never said that!-” Amity cried harder which earned a few stares from the people around them. Luz tried to calm her down by rubbing her back and shushing her when she got too loud again.</p><p>She roughly prodded Luz’s face with her finger, “say it! Say you think I’m ugly!” Luz swats her finger away, mumbling a quick ‘knock it off.’ Amity was nearly screaming at this point as Luz just stared in horror, “you think I’m ugly Luz!”<br/>Luz snapped and grabbed Amity’s face to get her attention, “I don’t think you’re ugly Amity! You’re really pretty!” Amity was a little too excited at hearing this which made Luz’s face burn bright red. Her face quickly lit up and she wiped the tears and snot off of her face, "you really think I’m pretty?” Amity was smiling like a little kid in a candy store, and Luz had no idea how to handle this situation.</p><p>Luz gulped and smiled awkwardly, “yes I think you’re pretty-.” She was cut off when a pair of lips met her own, she tensed and quickly shoved Amity off. Luz didn’t know whether to scream at her or smack the shit out of her, so she just walked away. She stood up and left, leaving the drunken girl alone on the bench.</p><hr/><p>Eda watched the girls from across the party, happy that they were ...somewhat getting along. That is until Amity kissed Luz, and then the girl took off without another word. Eda frowned as she spoke, “Jesus these kids are dysfunctional!” She smacked her palm against her forehead, striding across the patio to Amity who was borderline falling asleep. “Ok kid, the party’s over. Time for you to go to bed.” She slung the giggling Amity’s arm over her shoulder and then she dragged her inside of the house.</p><p>She threw Amity onto the couch and pulled a blanket over her, and put a trashcan next to her just in case. Eda rolled her eyes as she told her about how Luz had called her pretty. She ruffled Amity's hair as she mumbled a quick good night to the already half-asleep girl.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>This was going to be a big mess in the morning...</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Short chapter I know but at least you finally get some lumity drama uwu instead of them fighting all the time</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. The Kiss</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>TW: HOMOPHOBIA, MENTION OF DRINKING.</p><p>this is a more dialogue chapter of Luz and Amity sort of working through their issues. I decided to make the kiss not that big of a deal....</p><p>...For now 😈</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Amity awoke the next morning with a headache that made her wish she never drank in the first place, what even happened last night? Her mind was blurry and all she could remember was crying, which is embarrassing enough. The girl’s eyebrows knitted together as all sorts of thought turned in her head. Amity realized that she wasn’t even in her tent, man she must have been really fucked up.</p><p>Eda bursted into the room like the ray of sunshine that she is, “oh! You’re awake! Good, cause we have lots to talk about!” She handed Amity bottled water and the girl chugged it like it was the first time she’s had water in years.</p><p>Amity let out a sigh and held her head, “yeah tell me what happened last night because all I remember is crying, and I want to know why.”</p><p>Eda hissed and sucked her teeth as she rubbed the back of her neck, “Well…” Her voice raised a pitch as she tried to delicately piece her next words. “I’m just gonna say you should avoid Luz today.” With that, the woman left before Amity could ask more questions.</p><p>Furrowing her brows as she leaned back, “what the hell happened with Luz?” She decided she’ll ask the girl later, right now she wants to die. She’s never drinking again.</p><hr/><p>Luz laid in her sleeping bag, staring up at the tent’s ceiling. She couldn’t stop thinking about the stupid fucking kiss, it’s not like she hasn’t kissed people before? She’s kissed boys and girls while she was on the road, why was this time any different? Oh yeah, she remembers why now. It’s because Amity was piss drunk and begging Luz to call her pretty. Her enemy, the person she hated, BEGGED her for validation and then kissed her. Luz felt conflicted, what if Amity remembers and decides she wants to beat the shit out of her for ‘turning her gay’ or whatever homophobic bullshit that girl spews. On the other hand, she doesn’t remember and Luz can pretend nothing happened. Hopefully, that’s the case.</p><p>Suddenly she hears the zipper of her tent being fiddled with, “son of a bitch it’s too god damn bright out.” Oh fuck it was Amity. Luz panicked and decided she was going to pretend to be asleep, hopefully, she’ll fall for it. The tent’s flap finally opens to reveal a disgruntled Amity. Her messy brown hair stuck out all over the place and she had dark circles under her eyes. The girl’s voice was barely above a whisper as she spoke, “I know you’re awake Luz heard you moving, we need to talk.” She crawled over to sit next to Luz, her back facing her so she didn’t have to look Luz in the eye</p><p>Luz sighed and sat up, pulling her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. “I’m only telling you because it’s the right thing to do, and I won’t beat around the bush. You kissed me last night. I didn’t kiss you back. You did some other embarrassing stuff, but I’ll spare you the details.” Amity stayed silent as Luz continued, “I won’t tell anyone, no one was paying attention anyway. You don’t have to worry about your reputation. Just don’t bring that homophobic horse shit around me.” Luz scoffed when she heard Amity chuckle.</p><p>Amity pushed her hair back out of her face, smiling sadly as she tried to word herself correctly. “I’m not like that anymore Luz, Eda doesn’t let that shit fly here. I don’t hate gay people anymore, I just don’t support it.” Luz frowned at this but didn’t respond. “Look I know you like girls and I won’t give you shit for that, just pretend that kiss never happened. I was just drunk, and people do stupid shit when they’re drunk.” She and Luz sat in neutral silence, both of them neither uncomfortable nor comfortable.</p><p>Luz finally spoke up as she rested her chin on her knees, “I want to know why you don’t support it.” She didn’t expect Amity to answer, actually she didn’t know what to expect.</p><p>Amity’s eyebrows knitted together as she tried to remember why she didn’t support it. Her voice wavered as she spoke, remembering everything her mom and dad told her. “Cause it’s wrong!- Look I don’t know! It’s just not right and unnatural!.” Amity was just reaching for any reason why she didn’t support it.</p><p>Luz slowly looked up at the brown-haired girl, cocking her head slightly. “Are you gay Amity?” Amity jerked at the question and Luz feared she had crossed a line, but everything came out like word vomit and she couldn’t stop herself from talking. “My mom always said that people who are homophobic are most likely gay themselves and haven’t accepted it.” She kept talking and talking, god why can’t she shut up. “It’s ok if you’re gay Amity-.”</p><p>Amity clasped her hand over Luz’s mouth, “I’m. Not. Gay. I’m not like you, Luz.” She scowled at the girl, she wasn’t going to let Luz turn her into… One of them! She wasn’t like that. She liked guys, she just hasn’t found the right one yet.</p><p>Meanwhile, Luz was just surprised Amity hadn’t hit her yet, she’s changed a little. Luz will give her that. However, a lot of things made sense now. It was so painfully obvious that Amity was gay, but that wasn’t any of Luz’s business. She needed to figure that out on her own. She just rolled her eyes and licked Amity’s hand.</p><p>Amity recoiled and hollered in revulsion, “EW! LUZ!” She grimaced as she aggressively wiped her hand on her jeans.</p><p>Luz smirked as she propped her head up with her hand, “what’s wrong Am? Scared you’ll catch the gay?” That sentence oozed with sarcasm that made Amity send Luz a death stare.</p><p>Amity exhaled sharply, “you’re such a child. That’s not how you become gay. You choose it. Not catch it like a disease.” Luz couldn’t believe what she was hearing, how was this girl serious?</p><p>Luz groaned and buried her face in her palms. “Amity you don’t choose it, you just are or you aren’t.” She didn’t know why she was entertaining this conversation, probably because this is the most civil discussion they’ve had.</p><p>Amity scoffed and waved her hand dismissively, “well that’s just what my parents said! And everyone else said! I don’t know, that’s just how it is! Let’s just end this conversation. I don’t want to talk about it anymore.” Luz nodded understandingly, she won’t push the girl any further about the subject. This girl has issues that she needs to work through before Luz can attempt any kind of relationship with her.</p><p>She scooted closer to Amity, “I’m still not ready to forgive you for what you did to me in high school, and I know you’re not ready to apologize. But! I want to make a truce. No more picking fights and no more being dicks to each other ok?” Luz held out her hand as she gave Amity a lopsided smile, Amity hesitated but eventually shook her hand.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>It’s a start.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I miss living in the bay area. I'm also tired of getting called a fag by trumpies everytime i leave my house. Like damn I'm sorry i look sexc asf cause i have amazing fashion taste and you look like a rat's butthole 😎😎😎</p><p>I want to perish</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Reflect</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Amity stood on top of the wall and gazed down on the dead below, the cold winter morning breeze whipping through her messy hair. Eda had placed her on guard duty, and it was by far the most boring job she’s ever done. Not only that, the older woman woke her up at the crack of dawn to do it. Amity hadn’t been getting much sleep since her… Mistake. She gritted her teeth and her eyebrows knitted together as she recalled kissing Luz, humiliating is all she could call the experience.</p><p>She jerked when she heard Luz’s cheery voice from behind her, “looks like it’s gonna start snowing soon!” The girl beamed as she handed Amity a cup of coffee. Things have been good between them lately, it was peaceful. They’re not even close to being friends yet, but they can still be pleasantly civil.</p><p>Amity chuckled as she took a seat in a worn-out lawn chair, “what makes you say that?” She said as she took a long sip from her caffeinated beverage. A contempt smile gracing her tired features.</p><p>Luz leaned over the wall’s railing as she studied the sky with her hazel-brown eyes, sighing softly before speaking up, “I don’t know. I just have this gut feeling.” Luz looked back at Amity with a toothy grin.</p><p>Amity exhaled sharply through her nose as she sat up out of her chair so she could join Luz, “well you better hope it doesn’t. We might freeze to death this winter.” Amity said jokingly, although that is a very real possibility and she’ll have to bring it up with Eda later.</p><p>The Latina retorted back playfully, “it’s ok. We can just cuddle to keep warm.” Luz hugged herself to play up her joke.</p><p>Amity choked on her drink, forcing her into a coughing fit. “Don’t say stuff like that! It’s gay.” Luz frowned dejectedly as she stared down at the rotting claws reaching for her.</p><p>Luz sucked her teeth as her brows knitted together, “that was homophobic.” She scowled as she took one last big gulp of her coffee and dumped the rest on the deadies.</p><p>Amity hummed in response, “sorry.” The girls continued chattering amongst themselves, that is until a snowflake landed on Luz’s nose. “Huh, who knew Luz Noceda had the power to predict the weather.” Amity quipped before Luz socked her in the shoulder,</p><p>The hazel-brown eyed girl scoffed, “shut up, dweeb.” Luz was starting to enjoy Amity’s company, even though she says really stupid homophobic shit without realizing it. The good thing is that she’s working on it.</p><p>The girl’s bonding was cut short when an angry Eda stormed towards Luz. “Kid, I told you that you needed to clean hooty an hour ago! What the hell are you doing up here?!” Luz groaned as the older woman chided her. “Go, get moving!” She said as she nudged Luz with her palm. Luz just groaned louder as she trudged away to go do her chores. Eda sat down next to Amity as soon as she was out of sight. “I see you two are getting along better now.” She kicked her feet up on the railing.</p><p>Amity hummed in response, “yeah she’s cool, I guess.” She leaned back in her chair and zipped up her jacket as more snowflakes began to fall.</p><p>Eda chuckled as she leaned back in her chair, “did you guys talk about the kiss?”</p><p>Amity jumped in surprise at the question, she stumbled with her words. “Well yes! But there was other stuff! And Luz accused me of being gay, WHICH I’M NOT!” The girl continued to ramble on about what Luz said as Eda just rolled her eyes and listened to her.</p><p>She turned to look at the brown-haired girl exasperatedly, “listen! I’m just saying, I think you need to reflect on this whole sexuality thing. I’m always here if you need to talk kiddo. Now get back to work!” She snorted at the last part, sauntering away from the dumbfounded girl.</p><p> </p><p>Amity furrowed her brows as she studied the ground. What does Eda mean by reflecting?</p><hr/><p>That night the snow really started to come down, sending everyone into their tents early to bundle up. Luz was one of those people, she retreated deeper into her sleeping bag as she shivered violently. Her teeth chattered as she spoke, “f-fuck it’s s-so cold!” She tried to blow warm air into her freezing hands.</p><p>Amity sighed as she turned to look at the pitiful girl, “well what do you want me to do about it?” Amity was just as cold but she wasn’t going to look like a wuss in front of Luz.</p><p>Luz went quiet for a moment and then spoke up. “Ok I was joking this morning, but seriously can we platonically cuddle?-”</p><p>Amity quickly cut in, “absolutely not!” She was not going to fall for these tricks, she wasn’t going to let Luz turn her gay.</p><p>Luz was shamelessly begging her as she shivered like a puppy out in the rain, “Please Amity?! I’m f-fucking f-freezing!” She was so cold she didn’t think she was going to make it through the night or was probably just being dramatic. Most likely being dramatic.</p><p>Amity groaned as she sat up and held out her arms, “fine! Just shut up and come here already!..” Luz quickly shuffled across the tent and into the grouchy girl’s embrace.<br/>Luz snuggled closer as she wraps her arms around Amity, “you’re actually really warm.” The girl flicks Luz in the forehead.</p><p>“Don’t push it Noceda, you’re on thin ice.” It didn’t take long for the girl in her arms to fall asleep, her soft snores filled Amity’s ears. ‘Great. How did I end up like this?!’ Amity thought as her face burned bright red. She glanced down at the sleeping girl, brushing a strand of hair out of her face. ‘Maybe this isn’t so bad…’ Amity’s eyes widen in shock at her own thoughts.</p><p> </p><p>Oh fuck.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Y'alls comments give me life and motivation to write new chapters.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Dilemma</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Luz awoke when she felt shuffling and a weight being placed on her chest. ‘what the hell?’ she thought as her eyes slowly opened. She peered down to reveal a sleeping Amity snuggled into her hold, and with that, her face flushed a deep crimson as she recalled the night before. The now flustered girl shook Amity’s shoulder, “hey wake up!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Amity groaned and muttered under breath as she squeezed Luz tighter, “5 more minutes I’m comfy.” The girl wasn’t fully conscious and she was warm, she wasn’t going to move that easy. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz rolled her eyes as she continued to shake Amity, “you’re crushing me!” Luz cried out as her flusteredness melted away into annoyance.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Amity rubbed the sleepiness out of her eyes before she looked up, only to realize she was practically on top of Luz. “AH! GET OUT OF MY SLEEPING BAG CRETIN!” She shouted as she tried to forcibly remove Luz from her sleeping bag. It didn’t help that her entire face was burning 10 shades of red that reached all the way to her ears. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz smacked her upside the head as the girl in front of her was starting to panic more, “stop touching me weirdo! I can get out on my own!- OW, STOP IT! GET YOUR TALONS AWAY FROM ME WOMAN!” Luz screamed as she was trying to slap Amity’s hands away from her.</span>
</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>Eda whistled as she did her morning stroll through the camp, a contempt smile plastered onto her face. “What serene morning this is, I wonder what will ruin it.” Soon she heard screaming and rustling from Amity and Luz’s tent. “Jesus Christ, I thought they were getting along?!” She marched irately over to the girls’ tent, tearing open the tent's flap with a fury like no other. “What is wrong with you two-.” She froze mid-sentence when she saw the compromising position the girls were in, Amity was on top of Luz, and Luz had her hands tangled in Amity’s hair. Both girls looked like deers in headlights as Eda’s eyebrows rose smugly and a smirk replaced her scowl.  “Oh, so you are getting along, better than I expected even. I’ll leave you two to it then!”     </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz quickly shoved Amity off as she chased Eda through the snow barefoot, “wait Eda no! It’s not what it looks like!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Eda just chortled as Luz tried to give chase while barefoot in the freezing snow, “kiddo it’s not my business what you and Amity do when you’re alone!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz’s face flushed red as she tried to explain herself, “we were cuddling last night because it was cold and-.” Eda imitated gagging motions as she pretended to throw up.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Eda grimaced as she spoke, “ I don’t care, and I don’t want to know! Now go get some shoes on before you get frostbite, you dingbat!” She said as she scooped up a clump of snow and threw it at Luz.</span>
</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz and Amity patrolled the outer walls, this time thoroughly and with no fistfights. The taller girl twiddles her thumbs as they trudged through the fresh snow. Amity struggled to find the right words as a light blush dusted her cheeks. “So about this morning… I’m sorry for flipping out on you like that. I have a proposition though, how about just until the winter passes we make a habit of cuddling for warmth? Just for survival purposes, of course!” Amity knew that was all bullshit, but hopefully, Luz doesn’t see through it. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz raised an eyebrow and cocked her head before shrugging. “It sounds reasonable.” She brushed it off with a dismissive wave of her hand. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Amity let out a sigh of relief as she thanked God that Luz is so oblivious. It’s not like she thinks of Luz </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span> way, it's just been a while since she’s experienced affection like that. It’s merely platonic, everyone needs affection. ‘It’s human nature, it’s not gay!’ Amity thought as she tried to convince herself that it was just that.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz smirked as she twirled around to face Amity, “so… Do you think any guys in the camp are cute?” She was walking backward and Amity could see this ending badly, but she entertained the conversation.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She scoffed and smiled coyly, “why are you asking? Are you interested?” Amity tried to play it off as casual conversation, but she was genuinely curious for unimportant reasons…</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The hazel-eyed girl’s smirk only grew, “</span>
  <em>
    <span>well…</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Amity’s smile fell dejectedly, as she froze in place. Luz quickly backpedaled when she saw her partner’s sad expression, “hey wait I was joking don’t be sad!- AH!” Luz tripped over a rock and fell backward into the snow with an ‘oof.’ </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Amity cackled at the sprawled out girl in front of her, “dummy! That’s why you need to pay attention!” She reached out her hand to Luz as she tried to stifle any further laughter. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz smiled cockily, “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Oh… </span>
  </em>
  <span>So you think this is funny?” Her words were packed with mischievous intent.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The girl gazed down at her, “</span>
  <em>
    <span>very.</span>
  </em>
  <span>” She continued to hold out her hand. “Now hurry up and take my hand jackass, my arm’s getting tired!- HEY!-” Luz had pulled her down into the snow next to her. Now it was her turn to burst out in laughter. “Ok, ok, ok you’ve proven your point!” Amity giggled as she got up before helping Luz up.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz snorted and she held her stomach, “I can’t believe you didn’t expect me to do that!” Amity sent Luz a sly smile and muttered a quick ‘shut up.’</span>
</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>The girls chatted away at dinner time, making jokes and talking about the little things they missed. Luz missed staying up late reading her Azura books, while Amity missed sneaking out to go to parties with her friends. I made them a little sad, but it’s good to think about the good times. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz shivered as she blew into her hands and rubbed them together. “I hate having to eat outside, I guess it is what it is though.” She beamed even though you could tell she wanted to scream.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Amity rolled her eyes and handed Luz her jacket. “Here put this on.” She waited for the girl to put on her jacket before continuing. “Jeez Luz how did you even survive winters on the road.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz shrugged as she zipped up the jacket, “well I just stayed in warmer states, I’ve been all over most of the country.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Amity’s eyes widened in surprise, “really?! How come you moved around so much?!” She was blown away by Luz’s words and she wanted to know more.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz rubbed the back of her neck and spoke so nonchalantly, “well there’s out running herds, jumping from dysfunctional group to dysfunctional group, and chasing random rumors of safe havens and cures.” She tapped her chin as her brows knitted together, trying to think up other reasons. “Oh and not wanting to get caught up in wars between communities!” Amity listened intently as the girl in front of her droned on, “not to mention being hunted because… I made some enemies.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Amity spoke up as she eyed Luz suspiciously, “who are these… Enemies?” She folded her arms as she got prepared to interrogate Luz if she dodged the question.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz waved her hand dismissively before taking another bite of her meal, “just this guy named Belos and shit… what do his followers call themselves? Something like the Emperor's guard. I digress, I told him he can go fuck himself when he asked me to join him. Then I stole from him and killed a lot of his men. He’s just a petty little asshole who is desperate to turn me into an example, I’m sure he’s given up by now and is done tracking me. Cause that shit happened like 2 years ago.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Amity was shocked by how casual Luz was about mentioning that she’s killed people before and that she's being hunted by what seems to be a very scary guy, “you’re not scared?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz scoffed and cockily smiled while she took another bite “Of that bastard? Nah, but if it comes down to it I’ll kill him too. He lives because I allow it and don’t deem him as a threat.” Everything Luz said was a complete lie. She narrowly escaped Belos’s wrath at their last encounter and she’s scared shitlless of the guy. He is one cruel motherfucker and so are his men.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz was living on borrowed time. Belos will eventually find her, and when he does, she better hope he’s kind enough to make her death quick. Highly doubt it though. </span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I exist to spite god.</p><p>He made me bisexual to handicap me for our final showdown. Little does he know it's only made me stronger 😎✌</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. No More Running pt 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>This chapter is in Eda's POV</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>A boy and his father sit alone at a dying fire, the winter’s cold night not helping their situation. The boy shivers and his teeth chatter as he speaks. “Hopefully we get to Wellington soon, dad. It’s a shame that the walkers never froze though.” The father just grunts in response. “I can’t wait to have a hot meal and a warm bed!-” His optimistic rambling cut short with a barrel of a gun poking the back of his head.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The assaulter chuckled darkly, “unfortunately, that’s not going to happen. Face forward, you’re not going to want to see this next part.” A silenced gunshot sends the corpse of his father falling forward onto the snowy ground.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The son bares his teeth, “YOU BASTARD! I HOPE THE WALKERS GET YOU!” He did not dare to look back at the man behind him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The man hums in response, “they already have.” He slowly lifts up his mask to reveal a scarred crater in the side of his face.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The boy’s eyes widen in shock as he stares at the man before him. “How is that possible?!... WHO EVEN ARE YOU?!” The man cocks his gun and fires into the back of the boy’s skull.</span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>He slips his mask back on and spoke in a tone that could even strike fear in the undead, “I am the solution. I am </span>
  <b>Belos</b>
  <span>.”</span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>Amity awoke to Luz getting out of her sleeping bag, her tired eyes having to squint to make out the girl’s figure. “Where are you going?...” Her voice was raspy and hoarse from just waking up. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz was startled by Amity’s voice as she clutched her shirt, “Jeez you scared me! And sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.” She slipped on her boots as she smiled softly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Amity pulled her pillow into her arms to try and substitute Luz, “It’s ok…” She slipped back into her slumber as Luz chuckled and rolled her eyes. It seems the sleeping girl has forgotten that Eda has a mission for them, but Luz will cover for her just for a few more minutes. </span>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>Eda feigned enthusiasm when Amity approached her and Luz. “Ah yes! The queen finally graces us with her presence and gives us time of day!” She crossed her arms and stared down disapprovingly at the girl currently captivating her sharp quips. Amity of course flushes with embarrassment, but fortunately, Eda continues onto the next topic. “Now that you’re here and done making me wait in the cold, I have a mission for you two!” She said as she handed Luz a list of items. “We’re running low on this stuff so I need you to go into town and retrieve more, sounds good? Good. Now go already!” Eda was especially short this morning for some reason. </span>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>Once the girls left Eda disappeared into her house and went up to her attic where she sat at a desk. A CB radio sitting on top of the said desk, Eda stared at it intensely as she rested her chin on her folded hands. Finally, a voice crackled over the radio, “Edalyn Clawthorne. How are you this fine morning.” The voice was dark and was not really looking to exchange pleasantries. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Eda pressed her finger down on the radio, snapping into the mic. “Cut the shit, Belos. What do you want?” Eda dreaded talking to this man, but it had to be done. For her people’s safety.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span> Belos’s voice was icy as he spoke, “I’m here for my </span>
  <em>
    <span>delivery</span>
  </em>
  <span>.” Eda had been giving Belos a portion of the communities’ supplies for a year now. She did it to protect her people from the crazy bastard’s wrath. The man survived a deady bite, he’s earned the right to be a scary motherfucker. </span>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>Eda piled the crates of various supplies into the trunk of Hooty; food, first aid, the last of the moonshine. Eda was disappointed about the last one, but she’ll do whatever for her people. She shut the trunk and got in the driver seat, she rested her head on the steering wheel and sighed before peeling off to go to the meetup point. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The drive was short, but the meetup point was in a secluded area. Belos was already waiting for her with his men armed to the teeth with vans parked behind them. She steps out of Hooty, mustering all of her courage to make a snide remark. “Belos you shouldn’t have! Such a warm welcome, and all for me.”  She leaned against the hood of her car whilst forcing a smirk.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He hummed condescendingly, “just give me the supplies, Edalyn.” His men cocked their rifles, “and I’d do so with haste if I were you. My men aren’t the most… Patient.” Eda scoffed and popped Hooty’s trunk. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She loaded all the crates into one of the vans, “no need to get your panties in a twist. It’s all there.” She wiped the sweat off her brow and returned to Hooty, getting on the driver's side.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Belos approached and leaned in through the driver’s side window, “Not so fast, </span>
  <em>
    <span>Owl Lady</span>
  </em>
  <span>, I was thinking you take me back to your camp and give me a… tour.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Eda snarled as she whipped her head around to glare at him, “that’s not part of our deal!-” He pulled his gun out and pointed it at Eda before she could finish. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He chuckled darkly as he cocked the gun, “I wouldn’t test my patience, I tend to get... trigger happy.” He sneered behind his mask as he continued. </span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s just that I have just the slightest feeling that you have someone of mine inside your walls. It’s time for her to come home and face her </span>
  <em>
    <span>punishment</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>The question is: Do I sleep? The answer is never. </p><p>And did I make a twdg reference? Absolutely.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. No More Running pt 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>This part is told from Luz and Eda's POV</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Amity and Luz slipped past a few walkers gnawing on the corpse of a wild dog. “Damn they eat dogs too?” Amity whispered sadly, her shoulders slumped a bit and Luz just shrugged.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She spoke about the sad sight so nonchalantly, “the fuckers will eat anything that’s living... That includes dogs.” This only made Amity feel worse as she thought about all the pets who got left behind when this all started.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The girls approached an old convenience store that was nearly collapsed by a semi-truck that was driven through it. Amity sucked her teeth and frowned as she spoke, “do you really think there’s anything left?” Luz shrugged before climbing the ladder on the side of the truck.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She held out her hand to Amity as she smiled softly, “I hope so. Don’t want to go home to Eda empty-handed. Did you see how grumpy she was this morning?!” Luz gritted her teeth and heaved Amity up the side of the truck. The girls unsheathed their knives after dropping in through a hole in the roof. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Amity crouched down with Luz following her lead, she signaled her to keep her eyes out for deadies. The girls decided to split up to search the aisles of the store for supplies after checking what they needed on the list. Luz was tasked to find first aid and toiletries, and Amity was tasked to find food. They wished each other good luck before splitting up.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz came to the first aid aisle and began to fill her bag with what was left, which, unfortunately, wasn’t much. She then moved onto the toiletries aisle and grabbed the small amount of what was leftover from there as well. She frowned as she stared inside of the bag, not pleased with the amount she collected.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She went to turn down into the next aisle to meet up with Amity but was halted by a deady snarling at her. ‘Oh no,’ is all she could think as she stumbled backward when the undead bastard gave chase. It tackled her onto the ground, and she had to use all her might to push it’s head away. It’s gnarled mouth snapping and drooling all over her face. Luz grimaced and gagged as she fearfully muttered under her breath, “gross, gross, gross! It’s getting in my mouth!” She quickly sank her knife into its eye as it thrashed around, slowly going limp. Luz grunted and threw the deady off of her. She scowled as she stood up off the ground, lifting up the bottom of her shirt to use it as a wipe. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Amity quickly made her way to the aisle Luz was, fearing the worst as she turned the corner. “Hey I heard a noise, are you ok?! Oh...OH!! Put your shirt down!” Amity shielded her eyes while her face burned a bright cherry red. She could feel her heart pound against her ribcage, from running and from seeing Luz exposed like that.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz looked at her like she was crazy. “It’s just my stomach, weirdo. Plus I got deady drool and blood all over my face, and that stuff is just yuck!” She finished wiping off her face and grabbed her bag from the floor. “So did you find any food?” Amity’s face fell as she opened her pack to show only two cans of corn and a pack of instant mashed potatoes.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Amity sighed sadly as she zipped her bag back up. “It’s not enough, but we should be heading back soon since it’s getting late. What about you? Did you find anything?” Luz nodded her head with a look of determination.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She gave Amity a reassuring smile. “It’s ok we’ll find more! We just have to make it through the winter, and then we can grow crops again.” Amity couldn’t help but smile at the girl’s optimistic attitude. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Amity frowned as she looked at Luz, “zip up your jacket, stupid. You’re gonna catch a cold.” She approached the shorter girl and zipped up her jacket out of concern for her safety. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz chuckled and smirked at the girl, folding her arms and raising her brows smugly. “Uh… Thanks, mom.” Amity’s blush increased tenfold.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She huffed and socked Luz in the shoulder. “Shut up, I just don’t want you to get me sick. Cause you know… We cuddle at night... Whatever! Shut up!” She gripped the straps of her backpack and tried to speed walk away from the shorter girl.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz continued to taunt the poor girl, “It’s cause you love me!” Amity just groaned and kept walking as Luz chuckled and struggled to keep up with the taller girl’s strides.</span>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>The girls hit up a couple more stores, eventually stopping by at a clothing store. “You know my boots are starting to break down, can we go see if they have a pair in my size?Please?” Luz gave Amity a pleading smile. The girl just sighed exasperatedly and gave the ok to Luz who was practically vibrating with excitement. How could she say no to someone so cute?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The girls entered the store cautiously and made their way to the shoe aisle in the back, where Luz began to look for boots in her size. She settled on a pair of black combat boots, and she even grabbed a new jacket.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Amity folded her arms and smirked at Luz. “You done shopping, Luz?” The Latina nodded her head as she happily skipped out the front door, Amity rolled her eyes and followed close behind. She’s happy the girl has opened up to her at least a little bit, and even she can feel herself getting closer to Luz. Hopefully, they can be good friends one day, but they still have some healing to do before that. She chuckled as Luz started to break out into a goofy run, “hey wait up dufus!”</span>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>The girls trekked through the snow, chatting away as they neared the camp. They both stopped walking when they saw three vans parked out in front of the walls. They brushed it off assuming another group went out on a run and found three working vans, which seems unlikely but the community gets lucky every once in a while. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They walked through the gates hesitantly, but the community was acting normal so that was a good sign. Amity was stopped by one of the guards to talk, so she handed Luz her pack and told her to go give it to Eda.</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Once Luz was out of earshot the guard spoke up, a grim look on his face. “A group of men came with Eda into camp this morning. They looked shady as fuck, and Eda doesn’t usually let that many outsiders in at once. Not to mention… Their leader is looking for Luz.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Amity’s heart dropped as her legs started to move on their own, leaving the guard confused. “No, no, no! Not him! Anyone but him!” She bursted through the door of the house and was immediately met with multiple barrels of different types of guns. Luz was sitting on the ground with her arms tied behind her back and a terrified expression on her face. While Eda was sitting on the couch with Belos’s gun pressed to her temple.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Belos faced Amity menacingly, immediately striking her with a fear that told her she should leave right at that moment. “I believe you’re interrupting.” Amity gulped but stood her ground, no matter how much she wanted to run away and hide.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Eda’s voice wavered as she spoke, “Amity you need to get out of here. Right. Now.” She tried to stand up but Belos was not having it. He swung his gun back and bashed the older woman in the face. She hissed in pain as she clutched her nose.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His voice boomed as he cocked his gun and pointed it at her again. “Sit. Back. </span>
  <b>Down.</b>
  <span>” Eda reluctantly obeyed the terrifying man. Both girls stared at him in horror. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz screamed at him with all her fury. “LET THEM GO RIGHT NOW, YOU RAT BASTARD. I’LL FUCKING KILL YOU.” She clenched her jaw and thrashed around in her restraints as if that would change anything.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Belos turned to look at Luz, smirking under his mask. He sauntered over to her and crouched down to her level, gripping her hair and tugging her head back roughly. She snarled and spat in his face. He chuckled and slowly wiped it off and placed a knife against her throat, pressing down hard enough to draw blood. “See that’s what I like about you, Luz. Because even when you’re scared you’re still a huge pain in the ass. Not only that, but you’re also vicious and determined. That’s why you’re going to join the emperor’s guards whether you like it or not.” He let the poor girl go and stood back up again.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As soon as he turned around Amity socked him in the face with all her might, sending him stumbling backward. He steadied himself on the armrest of the couch, and the crazy bastard just laughed. “I’m taking her with me as well. The feisty ones are usually the best to recruit.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Amity’s brows knitted together as she snarled at him in a fit of rage. “To hell you are you!-”  She fell to the floor after getting bashed in the head by a rifle. Her ears rang loudly, barely being able to hear the muffled screams of Luz and Eda. </span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Then everything faded to black...</span>
</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>You think you can hurt me? I moved to a hick town in the 5th grade and have been jumped several times since moving here for being the openly bisexual kid. I HATE IT HERE. DON'T CROSS ME I'LL FUCK UR MOM OR UR DAD AND THEN STEAL YOUR BOYFRIEND OR GIRLFRIEND. I AM A FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH. anyways come get yall's food.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. The Past</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>This is a long-ass chapter SINCE I HAD THE TIME TODAY.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>When Amity finally came to she was in the back of a van tied up. She blinked her eyes a few times to try and adjust her eyes to the dark. Luz was sitting across from her with a dark look on her face, she wasn’t harmed though which is good. Amity clenched her eyes shut and hissed in pain when a sharp pain shot through her head.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz looked up at her with a relieved expression. “Thank god you’re awake, how’s your head?” She scooted across the van so she could try and examine the wound, unfortunately, it was too dark to see.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Amity chuckled and forced a smile. “Well the hilt of a gun hurts a lot more than a vase, I can tell you that.” She tried to lighten the mood with a little joke, and it seems Luz appreciated her sense of humor.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She smiled sadly and leaned her head against Amity’s shoulder. “Yeah, I bet… I don’t think this is going to end well for us, Amity.” The taller girl tensed and glanced down at Luz, who looked like she was about to cry. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Amity softened a bit and wrapped her arm around Luz. “Hey, stay positive. We’re gonna make it, you can’t give up.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz wanted to respond, but the van came to a stop and they could hear muffled voices from outside. She quickly wiped away her tears and steeled her expression just before the van’s doors threw open, forcing both of them to squint at the blinding light. They were met with a horrific sight once their eyes adjusted to the light. Belos’s base was an old reinforced warehouse with fences lined with barbed wire and… deadies. ‘Who would do such a terrible thing’ Amity thought and shuddered at the thought of what Belos is capable of. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>One of the guards pointed his gun at them. “Hurry up and get out, I don’t have all day. Fucking! Move!” Both of the girls did as commanded and hurried out of the van, Luz continued to keep her expression neutral while Amity just looked scared shitless. The guard did not appreciate that. “Oh, so you think you’re tough?” He lifted up his foot and kicked Luz in the back, sending the poor girl falling to the ground with a grunt. “Get up the fuck up. I didn’t even kick you that hard.” Amity tried to intervene but was quickly shut down when a guard held her knife to her throat.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz snarled and glared up at the guard who had kicked her. “Go fuck yourself.” The guard just sneered and grabbed Luz by her hood and dragged her across the ground, Luz kept trying to stand up but to no avail, all she could do was just scramble along as she was dragged through the dirt. The guard held her face up close and just barely out of reach to a deady who was chained to the fence. The guard chuckled when he saw Luz’s change of attitude. She quickly went from the tough girl act to utterly terrified in a matter of seconds. “I think Mr. Walker here is hungry! Don’t you think? Here let's give him a little snack!” He gripped Luz’s wrist and held her hand out to the deady who was snapping its jaws and trying to take a bite out of Luz.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Belos stepped out of the van and sighed when he saw what the guard was doing to Luz. “That’s enough hazing Mattholomule. I believe Ms. Noceda has learned her lesson and will be treating you with respect from now on. Is that correct?” Luz aggressively nodded her head while Mattholomule just huffed and threw Luz on the ground away from the deady. “Now why don’t you escort these new recruits to the… Detention center.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz struggled but eventually pulled herself off the ground. Mattholomule just groaned and shoved her back over to where Amity and the other guard were. “Hurry up, I want to get this over with.”</span>
</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>Mattholomule pushed both of the girls inside of a large cell-like room, and then slammed the door shut. He then turned to Amity and sneered. “Get your friend under control, or next time I won’t be so nice.” With that, he spat on Luz’s boot and walked away.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The Latina growled and muttered curses under her breath. “When we get out of here I call dibs on killing that dipshit.” Amity rested her hand on Luz’s shoulder to calm her down, and in the end, it worked and the girl settled down.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A sad voice called out from the other side of the room. “You’re not getting out of here anytime soon. Not until they make you into one of their drones.” Luz tried to study the figure of the person, that is until they stepped out of the shadows.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was a girl who looked to be about Luz and Amity’s age, she had thick round glasses with a crack in the left lens, fluffy black hair that reached her shoulders, and she had a stockier build too like she could bench Luz’s weight easily. She looked vaguely familiar.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz got in a fighting stance and brought her fists up to guard her face. “Who are you, and are you gonna be a problem? Cause I don’t care how buff you are I’ll still rock your shit.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The girl crossed her arms and chuckled. “Is that so? Have it your way then.” The girl approached Luz calmly and weaved through all of her strikes, dropping low and sweeping her legs out from under her so Luz down. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Amity tried so hard not to laugh at Luz being knocked down a notch. “You good Luz?” The defeated girl sent her a pointed glare.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The girl heaved Luz off the ground and helped dust her off. “My name is Willow!-” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz’s face lit up as she figured out where she knew this girl from. “Willow! As in Willow Park?!” The girl looked at her puzzled and backed away from her a bit.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She looked at Luz like she was the most suspicious person on the planet. “Yes… And you are?” Luz frowned dejectedly as Amity watched that reunion between the girls not go as planned.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz’s voice wavered as tears swelled up in her eyes. “Right, it’s been 4 years, of course, you don’t know who I am. Willow, I’m Luz. Luz Noceda. We were friends in high school!” Willow’s eyes widened and everything clicked in her mind. She dropped her defenses and rushed over to Luz and lifted her up in a tight hug. Luz's voice strained from the tight hug that squeezed all the air from her lungs, “it’s good to see you, Willow. You’ve got a lot stronger!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willow began to cry from how happy she was, “duh! Being trapped in a dungeon for the past 8 months and forced to hard labor does that to you!” She set Luz down and looked over at Amity who was smiling at the scene before her. “And who’s this?” Both Amity and Luz tensed almost immediately at the question.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz rubbed the back of her neck and Amity stared at the ground in discomfort. “Well… Do you remember Amity Blight?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willow glared daggers at Amity, she looked ready to kick her ass at any moment. “Yes. I do in fact remember her.” The taller girl shrunk under the intimidating girl’s gaze. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Amity approached and held out her hand, her voice cracked from fear. “H-hey Willow… Long time no see!” Willow smacked her hand away and continued to glare at her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She growled and pulled Luz behind her. “Not long enough. What are you doing here with Luz.” Luz just stared in shock at Willow’s protectiveness, then again she’s always been protective of her. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz stepped out from behind Willow and stood between the girls to mediate the situation. “Willow, me and Amity are cool now. She’s changed.” Amity just gave a weak smile and an awkward wave, only to be met with a steeled expression from Willow.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She eyed Amity up and down suspiciously before crossing her arms. “We’ll see if that’s true.” The girls played catch up while Amity tried to take a nap. That was cut short when a tall dark-skinned teenager walked into the cell. “Gus, look who it is! It’s Luz!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His face lit up with a goofy smile. “Now fucking way?! Hey Luz!” He swooped the girl up into a tight embrace, Luz just laughed and hugged him back with the same enthusiasm. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz smiled as she thought, ‘same old Gus. Always full of kindness.” He finally let the girl down and they repeated the same process they had with Willow when he noticed Amity. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willow hummed and pat Luz on the back. “Ok you guys, we should be getting to bed soon. We need to get up early in the morning for work!” Everything came crashing down around the newbies as they remembered where they were.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Right…”</span>
</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz was woken up by a boot nudging her shoulder, she rolled her eyes when she realized it was Mattholomule who was doing it. “Don’t fucking touch me, asshole.” He growled and forcefully dragged her up by her hood again and uppercut her in the stomach, sneering when she curled and clutched her stomach in pain.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Then he sauntered away but stopped to call over his shoulder. “I’d learn some fucking manners if I were you, or you won’t last long.” Luz rubbed her stomach to try and ease the pain before joining the others by the door afterward so she could see what her assignment for the day was. She already knew the drill from the last time she was in one of Belos’s camps.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Belos was assigning the group jobs, “Willow, Gus, and Amity you’re on wall maintenance duty… And Luz you’re coming with me. </span>
  <em>
    <span>It’s time</span>
  </em>
  <span>.” Luz’s being filled with fear when she heard those words, she already knew exactly what was coming. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Amity quickly interjected out of concern for Luz. “What are you going to do to her?! She’s not going with you!” Willow, Gus, and Luz stared at her in terror, she really fucked up now.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Belos spoke with great frustration. “You should mind your own business, or you could join our friends on the fence. Just know you’re on thin ice.” That swiftly shut her up.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz gave Amity a kind and reassuring smile, “I’ll be ok, Amity. Don’t worry about me. Just do your job and we’ll talk later tonight." Amity nodded her head understandingly before both Belos and Luz left the room.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Matt smirked and opened the door for all of them. “Let’s go losers. It’s time for work!” He then slammed the door behind the group once they left. Amity caught a glimpse of Luz and Belos heading down a corridor. </span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>‘I really hope she’ll be ok.’ Amity thought as she trailed behind the others. </span>
</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz was in fact, not ok. Belos was ruthless with her punishment. Luz made snarky remarks as the man beat her senseless. “You hit like a bitch, Belos. Where’d you learn how to punch, your mom?” The man snarled as his fist collided with her face yet another time. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He quickly regained his composure and reprimanded her condescendingly. “This punishment will be over a lot faster if you’d. Keep. Your. Mouth. </span>
  <b>Shut.</b>
  <span>” He punctuated each word with a harsh strike of his fist. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She scowled and spat her own blood in his face. “You should know by now I don’t give in that easy. I can do this all day.” Luz was not going to drop her smug attitude anytime soon, even if her hands were tied and she had no way to defend herself.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Belos wiped the girl’s blood from his face and then wiped it on his jeans. He then dropped his condescending and composed facade to utter one sentence. “You just fucked up big time, kid.” He gripped Luz’s hair and pulled her up by it, dragging her over to a drum filled with water. She could struggle all she wanted, but that wasn’t going to stop Belos. He dunked her head in the water and held her there as she thrashed about. He pulled her head out after a few seconds, her hair stuck to her head as water ran down her face. “See I was being nice before, but you just keep trying my patience, Luz.” He dunked her head in again and repeated the process of slowly drowning her before pulling her head out of the water again. “I’m not the bad guy here! You’re the one with a respect problem that needs to be </span>
  <em>
    <span>corrected</span>
  </em>
  <span>.” He forced her head underwater one last time before throwing her on the floor. Watching her gasp for much-needed air, and then he approached her and rested his boot on her throat.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>He smirked as he watched her struggle like a bug under his shoe. “What was it you said? You can do this all day? Let's test that.”</span>
</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>Amity couldn’t focus on her work with all her worrying about Luz. ‘What if he hurts her really bad? What he kills her? What if he-” Amity was snapped out of her thoughts by Matt screaming at her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He got up in her face and continued to berate her. “Hey dumbass! I’ve been trying to get your attention for the last minute, go get some more fucking nails!” He pointed in the direction of the workshop and continued to scream at Amity about hurrying up. </span>
</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Amity was on her way to the workshop when someone covered her mouth and grabbed her from behind, dragging her into a janitor’s closet. She sank her teeth into their thumb, making them let out a yelp. “Christ, kid it’s me, Eda!” Amity whirled around to face the older woman and pulled her into a tight bear hug. She just chucked and tried to shake the pain out of her hand. “You have very sharp teeth, I think you drew blood!” Her voice was just barely above a whisper but you could still hear the astonishment in it. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Amity rubbed the back of her neck and sent Eda an awkward grin. “Sorry about that…” Eda gave her a soft punch in the arm. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She grinned at the girl to reassure her that it was all good. “Don’t worry about it.” Suddenly her expression became serious. “Where’s Luz?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Amity’s face fell as she stared at the ground. “Belos took her, I don’t know where though.” Eda started pacing frantically, her breathing becoming erratic from panic. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She slammed her fist against the wall. “No, no, no! This is very bad, Amity. We need to get Luz out of here!” Amity has never seen the woman so panicked, it was unsettling. The gray-haired woman exhaled shakily as she tried to calm herself down. “You need to get back to work now, they’ll come looking for you if you’re gone too long. Just bide your time and go along with whatever they say for now. I’ll figure something out.” Eda then shoved Amity out of the closet and slammed it shut. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Amity did just as she was told and played along, starting by getting the nails. </span>
</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>The trio was panicking when Luz wasn’t back by the time they were done with work. Amity, however, was freaking out the most. “Why isn’t she back?! She should be back right now!” She was pacing back and forth in the cell with her hands tangled in her hair tugging at the roots. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gus placed his hand on her shoulder to grasp the panicking girl’s attention. “Stop pacing, you’re making the situation. Think positive thoughts, I’m sure she’s fine.” He lied straight through his teeth, but they all needed some peace, and Amity’s constant pacing was making them all anxious. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>However, Gus’s attempts to calm Amity fell short when Luz was dragged through the door by a guard. The phrase ‘beaten black and blue’ was an understatement, she couldn’t even stand on her own. The guard set Luz down gently on the ground and spoke to her kindly, “I’m sorry this happened Luz, hang in there.” She couldn’t even respond, she just kept slipping in and out of consciousness. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As soon as the guard was gone Amity, Gus and Willow rushed in to check on their friend. Willow started barking orders at both Amity and Gus. She told Amity to go find a rag or something, and then told Gus to get her water bottle. Once the items were retrieved Willow dumped the water on Luz’s face and used the cloth Gus had found to wipe off the blood from her friend's face. Once the blood was gone they all realized Luz was in worse shape than they thought. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Amity snapped her fingers in front of the dazed girl’s face. She sounded like she was about to cry at any moment. “Hey Luz, I need you to talk to me ok?” When she didn’t receive a response she placed her head against Luz’s chest, she was thankful when she heard the thumps of Luz’s heartbeat. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz weakly wrapped her arms around Amity and mumbled under something under her breath. They all stared at her in shock, Gus being the first to speak up. “Uh… Can you repeat that?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She smirked and forced a joke to cheer her friends up. “I said, am I still gonna be pretty when all this heals?” Tears poured down Amity’s face like the rain as she hugged Luz back tightly.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>And in the most endearing and sincere way possible she said, “of course, you fucking idiot!”</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I was just thinking about how the song "green eyes" by Wavves has Amity in this AU written all over it.  Actually now I'm thinking of making playlists for the characters, ya'll can suggest songs if you want.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0015"><h2>15. Reunions</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>my goal is still for someone to make fanart of this stupid fic &gt;:P</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Ya'll will get the Lumity you want soon. JUST BE PATIENT. I'm not naming names, but one of ya'll is about to go feral if I don't feed you what you crave.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Amity spent most of the night trying to calm Luz down, who kept crying and freaking out in her sleep. It was difficult because whenever she’d start panicking again it’d wake Amity up, and she’d have to play with Luz’s hair until she calmed back down. The tired girl felt immense guilt from not being able to protect Luz, but there was nothing she could really do about it. She hated how powerless she was when it came to the situation they were in.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willow came and sat beside Amity, her brows knitted together as she tried to articulate her thoughts. “I don’t know how to feel about you yet, but Luz seems close to you so I’ll try to keep my hatred for you under wraps for now… I, uh, I can take over for now so you can get some sleep.” Amity mouthed a quick thank you to her and carefully lifted Luz’s head off her lap, so Willow could rest the sleeping girl’s head on her thigh and continue to play with her hair. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gus tiptoed over to them and sat down next to Willow. His voice was flooded with concern when he spoke to Willow. “How’s she doing?” He carefully studied the cuts and bruises on Luz’s face.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willow hummed and brushed a strand of hair out of her face, “she’s doing better than she was before, but I don’t think the cold is going to help with the situation though…” She then leaned her head back against the wall. “Hopefully, Belos has a heart and will let her take the day off tomorrow.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gus exhaled sharply through his nose and stated flatly. “Doubt it. He’s a cruel bastard.” Willow nodded her head in agreement. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Both of them had thought Amity was asleep, which was far from the truth. Their conversation frightened her beyond belief to the point she knew she wasn’t going to sleep for the rest of the night. She vowed to herself in that moment that she’d never let something like that happen to Luz again.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willow’s brows knitted together while she tapped her chin with her index finger, sinking deep into her thoughts before speaking. “Who was that guard that dropped Luz off? She was nice and sounded familiar, but I can’t remember her name because her face was covered by that dumb mask Belos makes his subordinates wear.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gus snapped his fingers and pointed his finger at willow, realization sprung onto his features. “I know who you’re talking about! What’s her name… Em... Emily?... NO, IT’S EMIRA!! Yeah, she’s pretty nice.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Amity shot up from her sleeping position and turned to Gus and Willow, who were staring at her in shock. Willow cleared her throat awkwardly. “You know eavesdropping is pretty rude…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Amity just stared at them both dumbfounded by the discovery they’ve made without realizing. </span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>“Emira is my sister’s name…” </span>
</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz woke up the next morning with a throbbing pain in her… Well all over actually. She brushed her fingers against her face and abruptly flinched away while hissing in pain. She sat up from the sleeping Willow’s lap and managed to shakily stand up with the help of the wall next to her. The freezing cold room added salt to injury, she couldn’t stop shivering as she carefully weaved past her sleeping friends to the door.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She leaned against it and whispered past the barred window on the door. “Eda you there?” she waited a few seconds before she called out again. “Eda are you-” A guard approached the window and flipped up their mask.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was Emira, “Luz! what are you doing?!” Her voice was barely above a whisper as she questioned Luz. She looked around to see if anyone was watching before she entered the cell. She sternly questioned the younger girl, “Luz who is Eda?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz hesitated as she rubbed her arm. “Um… She’s a friend and here to break us out. Amity told me she talked to her yesterday when she was working.” Emira pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Emira scolded her like she was still a child even though she was only two years older than Luz. “You shouldn’t be trying to escape Luz, he’ll just hunt you down again and you’ll put others at risk. Wait. Did you say Amity?” She paused mid-lecture to look back at the group of kids curled up together asleep on the floor. She slowly eased over to Amity as Luz hobbled after her. She brushed Amity’s messy hair out of her face to realize that it was in fact her little sister. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Amity woke up when she felt something tickling her face, she giggled but didn't open her eyes. “Luz stop…” Emira paused and turned to give Luz a smug knowing look which in turn made Luz’s face become so red it almost glowed in the dark. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Amity’s eyes shot open when she heard a laugh that wasn’t Luz’s. She was met with the face of a guard smirking down at her. “FUCKER, YOU DIDN’T HEAR ANY OF THAT!!” She shouted as she slammed her foot into the guard’s stomach.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Emira fell to the ground with a grunt and gripped her stomach as she tried to regain the air that was knocked out of her lungs. “Wow… Mittens that is one hell of a kick, I’ll give you that.” She said while Luz helped her off the ground.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Amity scrambled to stand up and got prepared to throw another hit when her eyes met Emira’s. Her guard immediately dropped when she realized that her opponent was actually her sister. She looked a lot different now though. She was still very tall and lean, but all the green was gone from her hair too, and her eyes… Emira’s right eye was a milky white with a big burn scar across it. “Emira?! What happened to your face?!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Emira rolled her eyes and punched her little sister in the shoulder. “Thanks for the observation, Mittens. And my face has been like this since the beginning… We got in a car wreck outside of the city.” She cleared her throat and tugged at the collar of her shirt. “You know… After mom and dad left you… They’re long dead though! Died in the crash.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Amity could feel Luz’s sympathetic stare, but she didn’t want to meet the girl’s eyes. She was too ashamed of that memory to face Luz. “It’s cool, just please stop talking about it.” It wasn’t cool, but Amity didn’t want to talk about that right now. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willow groaned as she patted her lap in search of Luz’s head. “Why are you guys being so loud… It’s too early for that…” She slowly opened her eyes to see the three girls staring at her. “Well that </span>
  <em>
    <span>totally</span>
  </em>
  <span> isn’t unsettling to wake up to…” She said sarcastically before standing up and stretching. She joined the group of girls and scratched her head. “So what are we talking about?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The three girls laughed at Willow’s morning attitude. Emira wiped an imaginary tear from her eye when she finally calmed down. “Nothing… We're just catching up.” She grinned and brushed a piece of hair out of her face. “You know Edric is ok too, right? He works in the armory though.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Amity nodded so it looked like she cared and was listening. She didn’t know how to feel about her siblings. It’s been so long, and she thought her whole family was dead. Not to mention that her family left her behind, but that wasn’t Edric and Emira’s fault. She was just so confused about her feelings towards them and there wasn’t enough time at that moment to hash it out. ‘Those feelings are going to have to wait.” She thought while Emira just droned on about whatever. She wasn’t really paying attention.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They heard a tap at the door and all heads turned towards the noise, well except for Gus. He could sleep through anything. Amity snapped out of her thoughts and approached the source of the noise carefully, her eyes met with Eda’s who was wearing one of the guard outfits. “Hey, kid. How’s Luz doing?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Amity sighed in relief that it was just Eda, but her mood quickly turned sour. “Not good, Belos did a number on her. What about you? How’s the escape plan going.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Eda scowled as she gripped the bars on the window. “New plan. We're going to kill Belos. If we don’t he’ll just keep coming after us!” She let go of the bars and leaned against the door. “Amity, are you prepared to take people’s lives if this plan goes sideways. You understand that you have to </span>
  <em>
    <span>kill</span>
  </em>
  <span> some people.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Amity hadn’t given the idea much thought, she’s never had to kill anyone living before so she doesn’t know what it’s like. She tussled with the thought for a few seconds before giving her answer.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>“If it’s for Luz, then I’m prepared.”</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Call me Hannah Montana cause I be living double lives 😎</p><p>Like if ya'll met me irl you'd be surprised.  Cause I'm so chaotic online but I'm an introvert homebody irl</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0016"><h2>16. Escape Pt 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Aaaahhhhh I feel like this chapter sucks</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>When the sun finally rose Emira had to leave. If she was caught conspiring with the prisoners she'd be 'put on the fence' as Belos would say. She agreed to what had to be done, especially because her own flesh and blood is at risk of Belos's wrath. She wasn't going to fail Amity again.</span>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>Belos entered the cell and glared down upon Luz. "I hope you know that you still have to work today. I'll be sending you to the armory to work with a young man named Edric." He sneered when Luz struggled to stand up. "I think you'll have a lot in common. He was just as hard to break as you."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Amity snarled at the thought of what Belos had done to her brother and stormed towards Belos. "I'm going with her. Deal with it."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz grimaced at Amity's words and whispered to the taller girl. "Don't make him mad, Amity! He'll just hurt you too!" </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Belos gripped Luz's jaw and rested a knife on her tongue. "If you interrupt me again I'll cut out your tongue." He then let her go and the girl went quiet, staring at the ground dejectedly. He turned to face Amity who looked like she was about to murder him on the spot. "Now, what was it you were saying?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Amity growled and stood her ground against the villainous man. "I said, I'm going with her! Are you fucking deaf!" It felt like time froze when everyone went silent.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He crouched a bit to get on her level. "I like this one." Belos looked around as the guards around him laughed uncomfortably, it was like they were being forced to laugh. Like they were puppets. "No. You can't go with her." Amity made a fist and was about to hit the bastard when Luz gently held her hand and gave her a reassuring smile.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Belos finished assigning them jobs, Amity's job was to capture more deadys with Mattholomule. He made it clear to her that if she tried to run he would kill Luz. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>'Do it for Luz. Do it for Luz. Do it for Luz.' The thought repeated in her head over and over like a mantra.</span>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz was shoved into a room that was lit up by candles and had various weaponry adorning the walls. A rather tall man was hunched over a table with a welding mask hiding his face. She assumed that he was Edric. He was muttering curses under his breath as he traced schematics on a sheet of paper.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz cleared her throat and rocked on the heels of her boots. "H-hey… I got assigned here. So, um, what can I help you with?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He turned to Luz and flipped up his mask to reveal the same golden eyes as the other Blight children. He didn't look as bad as his twin, but his face was still pretty badly scarred up. Using context clues she assumed that's how she's going to look by the time her wounds heal.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Edric waved his hand in front of Luz's face. "Hey! Earth to the stranger. What's your name?" Luz realized she had been staring and her face flushed a tad from embarrassment.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She held out her hand awkwardly for him to shake, in which he obliged. "It's Luz." His eyebrows then rose in a smug way as he got a mischievous look in his eyes.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Edric sat on the table next to them and continued to stare at Luz with a smirk. "So you're Mitten's </span>
  <em>
    <span>special friend</span>
  </em>
  <span>." He rested his chin on the top of his hand.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz's blush went from zero to a hundred very quickly at the remark made. "WHAT?! W-WHAT GAVE YOU THAT IDEA?! We're just friends! Not even that, I just appreciate Amity's company!" She continued to ramble on and try and fail at defending herself.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Edric just rolled his eyes and handed her a bucket of bullets. "Right, and Emira totally didn't hear her talking about you in her sleep." He did not believe one word Luz had said, and his obvious sarcasm made that clear. "Now go reload the guns! I don't want to get in trouble because you weren't doing your job cause you were swooning over my sister!" He flipped his mask back down and continued to work on his schematics.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz mumbled curses under her breath as she loaded bullets into a handgun. "I was not swooning." Edric couldn't hold it in anymore and bursted out into a fit of laughter while the poor girl just became more flustered.</span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>"Shut up!"</span>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>Amity followed behind Matt deep into the forest, the only light coming from what the trees allowed to get through. Matt scratched the back of his head awkwardly before turning to face Amity. "So... Is Luz like your girlfriend?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Amity frowned before speaking. "That's none of your business." He shrugged and kept walking.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Matt called over his shoulder tauntingly. "Well if she's not your girlfriend… Then she's gonna be mine. Well, when her face isn't all jacked up that is." He wasn't serious, he just wanted to get a rise out of her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Amity fell directly into his trap and became furious. "You don't deserve her! And she actually is my girlfriend for your information!" She tried to convince herself that she was protecting Luz from that creep, but she knew deep down that was a lie.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The two of them bickered back and forth until a deady slowly prowled behind Matt. Amity dared not to warn him while she slowly faltered when the deady came closer and closer to Matt. "Yeah, that's what I thought. You're the one that doesn't deserve her! AH!!" The deady grabbed Matt and sunk its teeth into his neck. His cries for help fell upon deaf ears as Amity watched in disgust, that was a little room much gore for her. The boy went limp after a few seconds as the deady continued to gnaw on his corpse.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Amity forced herself not to gag at the sight before her. She then kicked the deady off of Matt and smashed its head in with a rock, taking Matt's knife and gun afterward. "Now to make sure you don't come back…" she trailed off before driving the knife into Matt's skull. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Amity then walked back to the warehouse while coming up with lies to explain why Matt wasn't with her. Much to her blessing, Emira was the first guard to greet her at the front gates.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She looked around Amity checking to see if Matt was with her and he was just lagging behind. "Amity… where's Matt?" </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Amity lifted up her shirt a bit to show Emira a handgun tucked into her jeans. "Matt was attacked by a deady, I </span>
  <em>
    <span>tried</span>
  </em>
  <span> to save him but it was too late!" </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Emira's eyes went wide in shock. She gripped Amity's arm and dragged her to the cell she and her friends were staying in, and slammed the door behind them. "What the hell were you thinking?! They'll know if Matt is gone! </span>
  <b>FUCK!!!</b>
  <span> Ok, ok, ok… you guys have to leave tonight." Her sister was panicking and she's never seen her do that before. To be honest it was, in a weird way, refreshing. Usually, it's constant cockiness and smug behavior.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Amity was armed and ready for the worst</span>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gus and Willow were assigned kitchen duty, it was a pretty tame job that was usually given to workers with good behavior.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gus sighed while chopping veggies. "I hope Edric is being nice to Luz. Maybe he's just as kind as Emira!" Gus had only spoken to Edric once or twice, so he doesn't know much about the guy.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willow shrugged while she swept the floor. "Maybe." She swept all the dirt into the dustpan and dumped it in the trash. "Even so, Luz is pretty tough. She handled herself pretty well in high school, even though she sucks at hand to hand combat." She chuckled after criticizing Luz's fighting techniques. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gus paused his chopping as he turned his head to Willow. "Do you think we can really escape?" The short girl hushed him and mouthed to him to lower his voice.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willow gripped the broom handle tightly and turned her gaze to the dirty floor. </span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>"I hope so…"</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I love torturing ya'll with my Amity in denial antics uwu</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0017"><h2>17. Escape Pt 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Come get ya'lls food</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Eda spent her time in Belos’s fortress skulking about and searching for any weakness, so far she's found one unprotected exit. Currently, the older woman found herself sneaking down a corridor to which she believed led to Belos’s office. She pulled out a walkie-talkie and whispered into after holding down the button. “Do you have Hooty ready to go?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A disgruntled and high pitched voice called back. “Yes, Eda. The car is ready to go. Just get Luz and those kids out of there already. This place gives me the creeps…” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Eda sighed exasperatedly as her shoulders slumped a bit. “I think that’s the look Belos was going for, King.” The short man mocked her voice before signing off. ‘Its go time’ She thought before disappearing around a corner.</span>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>Amity noticed that Luz has not stopped rubbing the side of her mouth since she’s gotten back from work. She casually approached Luz and questioned the girl. “Why do you keep doing that.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz just smiled and snorted at the question. “That could literally mean anything, you’re going to have to be… More Specific…” Luz trailed off when Amity tilted her chin up out of nowhere. Her face turned ten shades darker at how close they were.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The taller girl hummed and spoke flatly. “Smile for me.” Luz felt like her brain was about to fry at that moment, but she did as she was told. Amity clicked her tongue and frowned. “He chipped your canine. Is that why you’ve been rubbing your face, cause it hurts?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Before Luz could even respond there was an awkward cough. Both girls turned to see Gus and Willow who were visibly uncomfortable. Gus was the first to speak up. “Uh, are we interrupting something?...” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz jumped back away from Amity and was waving her hands defensively. “No! No, you weren’t interrupting anything. She was just telling me that Belos chipped my tooth.” Amity rubbed the back of her head as she tried to steady her heartbeat. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willow just raised her brows and shared a mischievous look with Gus. “Uh-huh. Right.” </span>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>The kids had just gone to bed when a loud siren began to blare all throughout the building. Emira threw open the door with a determined look. “It’s time to go guys!” The group just groggily stood up and dusted themselves off. She handed all of them varying types of guns. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Somehow Luz ended up with a shotgun in which Amity frowned upon. “Here, trade with me. You’ll just hurt yourself, even more, using that.” She took the shotgun from her and gave her Matt’s old handgun instead. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Emira groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose. “We don’t have time for this!! Walkers are going to be beating down our doors any minute now!” Luz and Amity mumbled quick apologies before the group moved out. </span>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>When the group made it to a loading dock for semi-trucks they were met with Belos holding Eda hostage with a gun pointed to her head. His mask was partially cracked and had had blood dripping from the bottom of it. Eda’s voice shook as she tried to force a smile. “Hey, kids… This isn’t going as planned…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Belos’s voice rang with rage as he shouted at the group. “Drop your weapons or she dies!” The group hesitantly obeyed and slowly set down their weapons, except for Amity. “Are you stupid?! I’ll kill her!” Amity reluctantly set down her shotgun and put her hands up. “Good, now was that so hard?-” He was taken by surprise when Edric burst through one of the side entrances and pounced on him, eventually wrestling the gun out of his hand.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Amity didn’t hesitate to grab Luz’s gun from the floor and fire two rounds into Belos’s kneecaps. Amity gazed down coldly at the man who collapsed on the ground. His screams of agony fell upon deaf ears. “You’re going to pay for everything you did, Belos.” With that Amity pulled the trigger over and over again, unloading each bullet into Belos, even after he was dead. Until there weren't any more bullets. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The group stared at Amity, she had definitely gone overboard. Edric slung his arm over his little sister’s shoulder. “Uh… I think you got him mittens…” The weight of realization came crashing down on Amity like a ton of bricks. She had just killed for the first time, and not only that, she went overkill with it. What if she scared Luz?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She gulped and turned around to look at Luz who didn’t look like she cared that much. “A bit overzealous, and a waste of ammo. I’d say a solid 7/10 for your first time.” Amity had forgotten that Luz was used to that sort of thing, and chuckled at her previous worrying about scaring Luz. Everyone else on the other hand thought the girls’ banter was… unsettling.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Eda cleared her throat and rested her hands on her hips. “Alright, you freaks… It’s time to get out of here.” She then shuddered as she walked past the two girls. “You guys got me wishing therapy was still a thing so I can sign you up for it, and then myself after seeing that.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The group quietly jumped down from the loading dock, Eda had to help Luz down because she was still badly hurt. The group loaded into hooty which unfortunately did not have enough room for all of them, but Eda said ‘she’ll make it work.’ Aka, She forced them all into the small car and prayed for the best.</span>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gus got the front seat on the ride home because Eda made King sit on the floor for mocking her voice earlier. Edric and Emira ended up having to share a seat. Willow got the middle seat to herself which she thanked god for. While Luz had to sit in Amity’s lap… Both girl’s blush reached all the way to the tips of their ears, what made it more awkward is that they refused to make eye contact. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Edric leaned over and whispered to Emira. “They’re so gay for each other…” Much to his misfortune Amity had heard his little comment. The flustered girl had to reach over Willow to sock her brother over and over again while he screamed and shoved Emira up against the window when trying to get away from Amity. Needless to say, the backseat turned into a warzone between the Blight siblings while poor Luz and Willow were caught in the crossfire. </span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Eda groaned and turned to Gus.</span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>“Buckle up. This is going to be a long drive home…”</span>
</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>It's about to get messyyyyy very soon Amity is going to face her sexuality crisis because now she can't run away from her past any longer &lt;3</p><p> </p><p>which means more angst AND MORE VILLAINS &lt;3&lt;3&lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0018"><h2>18. Settling In</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>I live on iced coffee and chicken nuggets. I'm pretty much sure that my eyes are permanently bloodshot from lack of sleep. I just write chapters when I can't sleep and that's why you guys get so many chapters is because I never sleep. </p><p> </p><p>I am unwell</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was very late when the group got back to camp, The newbies having the same reaction as Luz when she first got there. Astonished. Everyone was so tired that Eda just let Gus, Willow, and the twins sleep in her living room for the night. Luz faked being asleep so Amity would carry her to the tent, and the taller girl did just that.</p><p> </p><p>Luz couldn’t keep her act up for long and let out a tired giggle. Amity smiled softly down at the girl in her arms. “Oh? So you’re awake?” She even chuckled a bit herself.</p><p> </p><p>Luz sighed and opened her eyes. “Yeah... I’m awake. You can put me down now.” Luz tried to slip out of Amity’s hold, but the golden-eyed girl had other plans.</p><p> </p><p>She continued walking with Luz in her arms. “Nah, you gotta commit now!” Luz could feel her face burn from Amity’s obvious flirting. </p><p> </p><p>She held onto Amity’s jacket and her voice barely above a whisper. “O-ok then…” She only set Luz down when they arrived at their shared tent. Amity flopped onto her sleeping bag, letting out a huff from the impact.</p><p> </p><p>The hazel-eyed girl played with her own fingers as she gazed at the ground nervously. “Can we still like… Cuddle? Like is that still a thing we do.” Amity snorted and made Luz even more flustered than she was before.</p><p> </p><p>Amity reached up and grabbed Luz’s hand and pulled her down next to her. “Of course dummy.” She pulled the covers over them and rested her chin on Luz’s head. </p><p> </p><p>Luz frowned sadly, she wasn’t dumb. She knew Amity wasn’t into her that way, and even if she was into girls Luz would be the last person she would ever date. That’s why these little affectionate acts hurt her <em> so fucking bad. </em>She had fallen hard for the supposed ‘straight’ girl, and all the time they spent together only made it much worse. She lit up Luz’s world whenever the girl would even look at her, and the way her heart would stop when she flirted with her without realizing it. She couldn’t believe that roughly a month ago she hated Amity’s guts, and now she was crushing on her. Bad. </p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>‘How cruel this world is…’ she thought as she shut her eyes. Having had enough emotional distress for the day.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Eda frowned when she reached the last step, she suddenly remembered that she added four new additions to her litter of problem children. She held her fingers to her lips and created a high-pitched whistle that woke the sleeping group of kids up. It was a chorus of groaning and grumbling as they finally got up from their sleeping positions. “It’s tour time!” Her energy only makes the group of young adults even grumpier.</p><p>Willow responded in the most unenthusiastic and sarcastic way possible. “A walk through the cold ass morning… Wondrous.” Eda just mocked her voice and gestured for the group to follow her after they put on their shoes. </p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Eda threw her hands into the air as she revealed their final stop. “... And lastly, our very own hospital! Kind of… We’re doing the best we can!” The so-called ‘hospital’ was a run-down RV that looked like it was about to collapse on itself. </p><p> </p><p>A young woman stepped out of the trailer to greet the newbies, Electricity immediately shot through her and Emira. The woman’s ash-brown hair was tied up into a bun and she had a fishhook earring, but what really caught Emira’s attention was her eyes. They were the most beautiful shade of green she had ever seen.</p><p> </p><p>Eda rolled her eyes and snapped her fingers in front of Emira’s face. “Stop making eyes at our doctor and focus. You’re almost as bad as your sister!” The others snickered at Eda’s teasing comment.  Emira and the doctor’s faces burned a bright red.</p><p> </p><p>The doctor cleared her throat and gave the group a kind smile accompanied by an awkward wave. “My name is Viney, It’s nice to meet you all.” Her eyes landed on Emira’s, who was still helplessly swooning over the girl. </p><p> </p><p>Eda groaned and dragged Emira away with the group. “Come on, lover girl. It’s time to get your assigned tents.”  Emira just waved bye to Viney before turning away to join the group again. </p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Eda had ordered a few guards to set up tents for the newbies, there only being two. “Emira and Willow, you have the tent on the right. Edric and Gus you have the tent on the right. Here are your sleeping bags!” Just as she finished Two guards came and handed sleeping bags to the newbies. “Settle in, dinner will be ready sometime in the evening.” The older woman sauntered away to leave the group to settle into their new homes.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Luz slipped away in the morning while Amity was still asleep. She headed to the hospital and knocked on the door to be greeted by Viney. She was always so kind to Luz and she enjoyed the conversations they had while she was fixing the Latina up for whatever new injuries she had. </p><p> </p><p>Viney frowned as she inspected Luz’s facial wounds with a flashlight. “He really messed you up, Luz.” She turned off the flashlight and set it down before sitting down at the table inside the RV. She patted the seat next to her and insisted Luz sit down with her. “Your physical wounds will heal fine, but there will be scarring, unfortunately. What I’m more worried about is your mental health. What you went through was traumatic and I’m always here if you need to talk about anything.” She ruffled Luz’s hair as a sign of affection, but Luz became inexpressive as the events from her time in Belos’s fortress replayed in her mind. Viney became even more worried, and she quickly changed the subject to what she thought would be a lighter topic. “So… What’s up with you and the Blight girl?”</p><p> </p><p>Luz smiled sadly as she stared down at her hands. “I like her… a lot. And it’s so confusing because we do couple stuff, but she’s straight. Or at least claims to be. It's just… If I act upon these feelings and it goes wrong then we’ll lose all the progress we’ve made as friends. I don’t want to go back to fighting with her.” Viney listened attentively to the girl’s problems nodding her head along. “I just want to be with her romantically so badly, but it’ll never happen cause even if she were to like girls I’d never be enough.”</p><p> </p><p>Viney frowned when the girl started beating herself up. “Hey! You’re a catch, and if Amity doesn’t see that then fuck her!” </p><p> </p><p>Luz giggled and gave Viney a gentle side hug. “Thanks, Viney. That really cheered me up.”</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>Little did they know that Emira had eavesdropped on their entire conversation. Not intentionally though, she just came to hit on the cute doctor but instead got some juicy gossip that she could use as ammo against Amity. Well, for good reasons.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>‘Honestly, how is Amity still this deep in denial after all these years’ Emira thought as she happily scampered away to go cause some trouble. </p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>The curses of ADHD and having fun really do be jacking up my life.</p><p> </p><p>Like I'm a growing child (I mean I'm 17 BUT STILL) I should be asleep right now. Not writing fanfics and slap boxing my cat. (not hard I just like to annoy her and she returns the favor. it's just how we play)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0019"><h2>19. Denial</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Very short chapter sadly but I'll probably update later tonight</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Emira spotted her sister chopping firewood beside Eda’s house. “Hey, we need to talk!” She commanded scaring the shit out of Amity in the process.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Amity grumbled as she set down the axe. “Watch it idiot I was holding an axe! And what do you want?” Emira hushed her and sat down on a bench next to her sister.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Emira frowned and brought her knees up to her chest so she could wrap her arms around them. “What’s up with you and Luz?” There was a silence between the girls as Amity registered what her sister was asking. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Amity then sent her sister a pointed glare. “We’re just friends.” The girl then pouted when Emira began to rub her temples in frustration. Her older sister looked ready to smack the shit out of her. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Emira sighed exasperatedly. “Amity, don’t you remember the day this all started? When dad found out about those magazines you kept in your room. Straight girls don’t have things like that!-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Amity interjected with a snarl. “I’m. Not. Gay. Those weren’t mine! I don’t know how they got there!” The defensive girl lied straight through her teeth, those were hers and she knew exactly how they got there. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Emira stood up and smacked her sister upside the head. “Amity cut the bullshit. People are dying and coming back as flesh-eating monsters! No one fucking cares if you like girls! Mom and dad aren’t around anymore, you can be with whoever you want! So stop fucking with Luz’s feelings cause somehow she’s fallen for a dysfunctional brat like you!” She quickly shut her mouth when she realized what she had said.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Amity’s eyes went wide at the revelation. “Luz has feelings for me?...”  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Emira knew she just fucked up big time, but she tried to scramble for something else to say that would remedy the situation. “A-and you have feelings for her too! It’s so obvious by the way you act around her!” Turns out she only threw gasoline into the flames of chaos that’s about to ensue. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Amity’s face burned a bright red at her sister’s accusations. “No, I don’t! I mean she’s pretty and I think about her a lot! But that’s only out of concern cause she’s always getting herself into trouble.”</span>
</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz had left Viney’s RV after a long talk about how she should just tell Amity how she felt, and if the girl rejected her then it is what it is. Her heart pounded as she hyped herself up to just rip off the bandaid and get it over with. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She spotted Amity and Emira from across the clearing. “Ok Luz. It’s go time! You can do this!” Luz made her way over to the girls. Her heart wouldn’t stop pounding and she could feel her palms start to get sweaty. She wiped them on her jeans before she arrived. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Emira and Amity had their backs turned and were clearly arguing about something. Luz didn’t want to interrupt and was about to walk away when Emira called out to her. “Hey, Luz! Why don’t you come talk to us!” Amity glared at her sister and cursed her out under her breath. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz’s face flushed and she fumbled with her words. “O-ok! I’ll, um, talk to you!” She internally screamed at herself for being so awkward. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Emira snapped her fingers and feigned disappointment. “Darn, you know what? I was supposed to go talk to Viney about something! I’m sure you guys have </span>
  <em>
    <span>lots </span>
  </em>
  <span>to talk about since you get along so well! </span>
  <em>
    <span>Some would say like a couple.</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Could Emira be any more obvious and annoying? The answer was yes. Because as soon as Luz’s back was turned she made kissy faces at Amity.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz was so nervous she couldn’t even look the girl captivating her affections in the eye. “So… I got something to tell you…” She mustered up the courage with a deep inhale. “Amity I have feelings for-” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Amity cut Luz off with a yelp and looked at the imaginary watch on her wrist. “OH WOULD YOU LOOK AT THE TIME!!! I-I HAVE TO GO DO SOMETHING!!!” With that, the girl took off leaving Luz confused and hurt.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Luz sighed as she stared up at the sky, watching the fresh snow gracefully float down to earth. She frowned and kicked a pebble on the ground. “Well it wasn't a direct rejection, but that shit still hurted…” </span>
</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>OK, SO MY BEST FRIEND SHOWED KALI UCHIS AND WAS LIKE SHES SO HOT AND IM LIKE YES SHE'S VERY ATTRACTIVE AND SHE KEPT CALLING HER B**BS BIG MOMMY MILKERS AND NOW IM GETTING VERBALLY ASSAULTED BY HER CAUSE I WILL NOT LOOK AT GIRLS LIKE THAT. LIKE I THINK THEYRE REALLY PRETTY AND I'LL TELL THEM THAT AND SAY THEY LOOK NICE TODAY AND IM ATTRACTED TO THEM BUT I REFUSE TO COMMENT ON ANYONES BODY LIKE THAT AND ITS NOT LIKE IM INNOCENT OR THAT SHIT BUT I WAS JUST BROUGHT UP TO TREAT PEOPLE WITH RESPECT</p><p>AND THEN I POSTED A PIC OF MYSELF ON MY PRIVATE INSTA AND A GIRL FROM MY SCHOOL TEXTED ME SOMETHING VERY INAPPROPRIATE AND LIKE IT DIDN'T MAKE ME UNCOMFY BUT LIKE I'VE NEVER HAD ANYONE SAY SOMETHING LIKE THAT TO ME LET ALONE A GIRL AND I SCREAMED AND GIRLS JUST SCARE ME CAUSE YA'LL ARE TOO POWERFUL AND I SIMP </p><p>ok I'm done ranting</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0020"><h2>20. Avoidance</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>AGAIN SHORT CHAPTER</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>For the past week, Amity has been avoiding Luz as much as humanly possible. She even started sleeping in Eda's living room. Not to mention anytime someone would mention Luz to her she would scramble to make up excuses for why she needed to leave at that exact moment.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Poor Luz was confused and thought she ruined everything between them. At least when they used to be mad at each other they would bicker and fight. Now Amity won't even look her in the eye when they talk to each other. Luz had enough, she was going to corner Amity and make sure she couldn't run away this time. </span>
</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>Amity was cleaning out the storage room on the second floor of the house. Eda's moving Viney into it since the RV is falling apart. It was filled with junk that no one really used any more, so Eda decided to just throw it all away. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The girl exhaled and wiped the sweat off her forehead. "Damn, this is a lot of work." She took off her jacket and hoodie and threw them across the room. She flinched and yelped when the door slammed shut behind her, followed by it locking. It was now dark and she could barely see anything, her arms flailed about in search of a light source. "Shit, where is a stupid lantern when you need one."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A broken voice that sounded like the person was moments away from crying made Amity leap in surprise. "Why do you keep avoiding me?" Amity then recognized the voice as Luz's and felt a wave of guilt wash over her. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Amity sighed and crossed her arms. "I wasn't avoiding you." It seems lying has become a habit of hers these days. "Can you let me go now, so I can get back to work?" She didn't mean for that to come off as cold.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz muttered under her breath and then spoke up. "In a weird way, I miss when you were mean to me... Because at least then you were honest and didn't bullshit me!" She shoved Amity backward.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Amity gripped Luz's wrists before she could shove her again and spoke in a low voice. "Move or I'll make you move, Noceda." It sent chills down Luz's spine but she was going to stand her ground.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She inhaled sharply and tried to wiggle out of the stronger girl's grip. "No! You're going to tell me why you've been acting like this!" Amity's grip on her wrists loosened and Luz tore them from her grip. "Look, I know you know that I like you… Romantically. I also know that's why you're avoiding me, but I want to hear you say it. Say you don't like me in that way! Say all the times we cuddled and flirted with each other meant nothing to you! Say it so I can move on and stop pining for something that'll never happen..." Luz faltered at the last part as her gaze fell to the floor out of shame for revealing her deepest feelings.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Amity was hesitant to respond, she didn't even know how to respond. "Let me go." Luz's heart shattered into a million pieces.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz muttered under her breath just as Amity was walking away. "Fucking coward." She wanted to beg Amity to stay, but her pride wouldn't allow it. However, insulting her seemed to work in its own way.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The taller girl froze in her tracks and whirled around to face Luz. Amity's brows furrowed as she took a step towards her. "Excuse you? What did you just call me?" She was only inches away from Luz's face which was intimidating enough on its own without her talking down to her. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz wanted to repeat what she said but couldn't. She even opened her mouth to say it, but nothing came out. Instead, she said. "Nothing…" She averted her gaze to the ground and picked at the skin around her fingers out of nervousness.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>That answer wasn't good enough for Amity, so she gripped Luz's jaw and forced her to look her in the eyes. She sneered when she saw the poor girl's embarrassed expression, just now realizing she had Luz wrapped around her finger. She purred at the reaction and leaned closer to her. "What did you call me?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz didn't hesitate to do what she did next. She stood on her toes and placed a gentle kiss on Amity's lips, and of course, the taller girl immediately pulled away. Amity's face lit up a bright red hue and placed her fingers on her own lips. She looked down at Luz, whose face was just as red as hers. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>What happened next shocked Luz beyond belief. Amity pulled her back onto her toes by the collar of her jacket and slammed her lips into Luz's. The kiss was deep and passionate like Amity had been holding herself back for the longest time. Luz could feel herself slowly going weak in the knees as she wrapped her arms around Amity's neck.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And just as quick as the kiss happened it ended, and Luz was shoved roughly back into a pile of empty boxes. All she could do was stare up at Amity in shock as the girl scrambled to grab her jacket and go. Leaving Luz to ponder over what the fuck just happened.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz's face glowed a deep red when it finally registered in her mind that she had just kissed Amity, and she kissed her back.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>"Holy shit…" </span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>YA'LL FINALLY GET WHAT YOU WANT</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0021"><h2>21. Aftermath</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>short chapter yet again cause school sucks the life out of me lol</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Y'all I just completely cut off my ex bf and I feel amazing like our relationship was so fucking toxic and ngl I contributed to that cause when too mentally unstable people get together that's just... Yikes... </p><p>It was hard cause I didn't want to be mean and he was practically begging me to stay but you know what so sometimes you gotta be mean and I just learned that (not actually mean just firm)</p><p>I'ma spend the rest of high school alone cause relationships make me tired</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>As soon as Amity left that room she bolted down the steps and out the door, almost knocking down poor Eda who was just trying to get inside her house.</p><p> </p><p>She called after Amity. "DID YOU FINISH UP-... And she's gone…" Eda sighed and entered the house, knowing she was going to have to finish up by herself. Just as she was about to go upstairs she met eyes with a very flustered Luz. Eda raised an eyebrow and placed her hands on her hips. "What did you do this time?" </p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>When the coast was clear and she was hiding in the storage shed Amity exhaled a breath she didn't even realize she was holding. 'I kissed Luz… isn't that wrong, right? It felt right though, but I was always told it was wrong! Why did it feel good if it's wrong!' Her brain was short-circuiting while the thought of kissing Luz turned about in her head. 'Her lips were so soft though…' She snapped out her thoughts just to cry out in a fit of fury. "What's wrong with me?!"</p><p> </p><p>A sly and deep voice called out from behind her. "A lot actually. For one, you're stinky and you suck butt. And two, you won't accept that you're gay." She immediately recognized it as Edric's. </p><p> </p><p>Amity growled and whirled around to face her aggravating older brother. "You are the one that is stinky and sucks butt! A-and… JUST SHUT UP!!"  Edric flinched and was taken aback by Amity's sudden outburst, but the shock quickly turned into a look of mischief.</p><p> </p><p>He walked over and bent down to his little sister's level, and asked in the smuggest way possible, "this is about Luz, isn't it?" </p><p> </p><p>Amity shoved his face away and sighed. "You can't tell anyone, ok?" She glared as he slowly nodded his head, eyes widened with interest. "I kinda… kissed Luz a little bit ago! Well kind of… she kissed me but I got scared, but then I kissed her back! I don't know why I did it, but it felt right. Is that bad?" </p><p> </p><p>Edric slung his arm over his sister's shoulder and suddenly became serious. "It's not bad and I'm proud of you for being able to do something that bold. I don't even think I could do that!" He paused before continuing. "Do you like Luz?" </p><p> </p><p>Amity huffed, puzzled and annoyed by hearing that question so many times. "Why does everyone ask that?! I just care about her a lot and I liked kissing her!" She thought about it for a bit and then mustered up the courage to say the next part. </p><p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"I think I like her, Edric."</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>After being thoroughly and ruthlessly interrogated by Eda for what felt like hours, Luz finally decided to fess up and tell the mother-figure the truth. </p><p> </p><p>She sighed and ran a hand through her fluffy dark-brown hair. "I kissed Amity in the storage room upstairs, and she kissed me back." She blushed as she remembered how aggressive Amity was about it.</p><p> </p><p>Eda scoffed and fake gagged. "Gross, stop talking about it! I don't want to hear anymore, just go! Go talk to Amity about it!" She waved Luz off in a shooing matter. </p><p> </p><p>Luz giggled as Eda pushed her out the door. "Ok! Ok! I'm going!" The door was slammed shut behind her. She beamed and tried to hype herself up to hide how nervous she was. "Let's do this!" She then began her search for her crush.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Luz sighed as she flopped down onto her sleeping bag with a sad sigh. She couldn't find Amity all day. "Is she avoiding me again?" She frowned and picked up her pillow to scream into it.</p><p> </p><p>When Amity entered the tent she felt a pang of guilt when she saw how sad Luz looked with her face stuffed into a pillow muttering profanities. "H-hey Luz…" </p><p> </p><p>Luz sat up and tried her best to harden her expression, but it failed horribly when she couldn't stop staring at Amity's lips. "What's up…" she spoke softly and began to look everywhere except Amity.</p><p> </p><p>Amity let out a shaky sigh. "So here it goes… I- I like you a lot! But I'm not ready to say I'm ...you know what. I just care-… Stop making that face, Luz." The expression Amity was referring to was a smug brow raise and smirk. Amity couldn't help but blush a deep red. "Stop it! I am trying to tell you my feelings and you are making it difficult by making that!-" Luz stopped her mid-sentence by giving her a kiss on the cheek.</p><p> </p><p>It was Luz's turn to blush as she fiddled with her jacket's zipper. "I'm sorry, was that not ok?" Amity didn't respond. Instead, she pinned Luz down onto the sleeping bag. </p><p> </p><p>She leaned down and purred into Luz's ear. "I want more." With that Luz's brain began to fry at the close contact and Amity's words.</p><p> </p><p>Luz gulped and said the only thing that could come to mind.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Ok then…"</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>The most metal thing I've ever done is pierce my septum at school behind the FFA buildings lol </p><p>I was only at that school for 3 months and was already doing clownery type shit 😳</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0022"><h2>22. Mosquitoes</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Jus an extra spicy filler chapter &lt;3</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>They just made out lol &lt;3 &lt;3 &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Amity woke up the next morning with a yawn. She turned to Luz with a happy smile, which quickly turned into panic when she looked at Luz's neck which was covered in hickies. She could feel her cheeks heating up as she thought about how she might've gone a bit overboard last night. </p><p> </p><p>Luz woke up soon afterward and snorted when she saw Amity staring at her with wide eyes. "Good morning to you too, and why are you staring at me like that?" Amity just pointed to her neck. It took Luz a moment to figure it out, but then the realization struck her like lightning and her blush even rivaled Amity's. Luz brought her hands up to hide her face "So we?..." Amity just hummed in response and Luz almost squealed in embarrassment.</p><p> </p><p>Amity was just as taken aback as Luz because just a bit ago they were at each other's throats and now they're… Whatever the hell is going on with them. She then noticed that Luz was wearing her hoodie which she thought was adorable, but she didn't want to freeze to death. She debated whether she should ask for it back or not, ultimately she decided against it. 'Guess I'll die of hypothermia then' she thought, even chuckling out loud to herself.</p><p> </p><p>Luz cocked her head to the side like a curious puppy. "What's so funny?" </p><p> </p><p>Amity smiled and leaned over and kissed her softly. "Nothing, you're just cute." She couldn't help but laugh at how flustered Luz gets just from one kiss. She pulled Luz into a hug and held her there. "Let's just sleep a little longer, I don't wanna get out of bed just yet." Luz giggled and cuddled closer to her.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Over the next few weeks, it just got worse and worse. They'd almost get caught making out and would have to play it off as their usual bickering. Though today was going to be the day their luck ran out. </p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Eda made the girls finish up clearing out the storage room because she couldn't move all that stuff herself, and it was Amity's job in the first place. </p><p> </p><p>Luz was trying to carry a heavy box that was filled to the brim with random items from what she assumed was the 80s. Amity tried to intervene but Luz just snapped at her and told her she's perfectly capable of doing it by herself. </p><p> </p><p>Amity just snorted and snatched the box away from her. "Don't be dumb." The girl carried it downstairs effortlessly making Luz pout because it felt like a slight at her pride. </p><p> </p><p>When Amity came back upstairs Luz threw an old stuffed bear at her. She grumbled and crossed her arms. "I could have done that by myself you know!" </p><p> </p><p>The golden-eyed girl just smirked and sauntered over to Luz who was already beginning to cower and back away. She slammed her hand on the wall above the nervous girl's head and leaned down to whisper into her ear. "Aw, are you mad at me? I'm sorry." Luz knew damn well that Amity was not sorry.</p><p> </p><p>Luz huffed and avoided looking Amity in the eyes. "We can't do this here. What if someone were to hear us?-" </p><p> </p><p>Amity quickly snatched up Luz's wrists and pinned them above her head while using her other hand to cover her mouth. "Then don't be loud, Noceda."</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Emira was laying down on the couch reading a book while Eda was in the kitchen making lunch. The older woman cleared her throat to grab her attention. "Emira, can you go upstairs and tell Tweedledweeb and Tweedledork that lunch is almost done?"</p><p> </p><p>Emira shut her book and stood up. "Got it." The girl was making her way upstairs when she heard shuffling in the storage room. "Huh, I wonder what they're doing cause they haven't brought down a box in a while" she then groaned when she realized that they might be fighting again.</p><p> </p><p>She hurried up the last steps and threw open the door. "Are you guys seriously fighting again?!-" her jaw dropped at the sight before her. Amity had poor little Luz pinned down on a desk while just about to take her shirt off. The girls just stared at Emira like deers in headlights, both of their faces burned bright red. It was just an awkward silence as Amity slowly pushed herself off Luz and helped her up. Emira couldn't hold it in anymore as she began to howl with laughter. "I'M TELLING EVERYONE!!" She then booked it down the steps before her little sister could protest.</p><p> </p><p>Amity quickly gave chase screaming at her older sister. "DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE!!"</p><p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>Poor Luz was just left there embarrassed and too scared to go back downstairs.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Emira and Edric were whispering to each other at dinner before Edric turned to Luz. "Hey Luz, what are those marks on your neck?" Amity choked on her soup and was sent into a coughing fit.</p><p> </p><p>Luz could feel her cheeks heat up as she tried to think of an excuse.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Uh… Mosquitoes."</p><p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>OK OK LAST SPICY CHAPTER FOR A BIT CAUSE WHEW I DO NOT WANT TO PUSH IT.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0023"><h2>23. Siblings Day</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>A good wholesome chapter with Edric and Emira being headasses and annoying their little sister</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Ya'll just learn a lil more about me each time I post a chapter which is fun cause I want to be open with you guys 😎😎😎😎</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>First thing in the morning Amity was dragged out of bed by her older siblings to go on an adventure. She had a very bad feeling about this but was too tired to fight them on it. </p><p> </p><p>Edric handed her a cup of coffee to remedy her tiredness. Usually, it's Luz who brings her coffee so it just didn't quite feel the same. Her older brother noticed her frown and raised a brow. "Is there something wrong with it?"</p><p> </p><p>Amity traced the rim of the cup with her index finger and mumbled. "Luz usually makes me coffee…" Emira groaned and Edric's eye twitched in frustration.</p><p> </p><p>Emira pinched the bridge of her nose before shaking Amity aggressively. "We get it! You're obsessed with her! But today you're spending time with just us! So no more Luz talk!" </p><p> </p><p>Amity's head spun before she shoved her sister off. "Ok, ok, ok no talking about Luz! Just let me go grab my hoodie!" In reality, she went to go give Luz a kiss good morning and goodbye, and then she grabbed her hoodie.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>The Blight siblings trekked through the snow, clearing going somewhere shady. The fresh falling of snow made the youngest Blight shiver. She began to regret going on this so-called 'adventure.'</p><p> </p><p>Amity's teeth chattered and she hugged herself to keep warm. "Where the hell are we going?" Edric shrugged and Emira didn't bother responding. "Are you taking me out here to kill me or something?" </p><p> </p><p>Emira turned to her and sighed. "No we're not going to kill you, we just have a surprise for you!"</p><p> </p><p>Her younger sister deadpanned. "That doesn't make this situation sound any better." </p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>The siblings finally found themselves on the front of the most questionable shack Amity had ever seen. Emira then giddily held the door open for both of her siblings while smiling like she just found buried treasure.</p><p> </p><p>Amity crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. "So let me get this straight. You dragged me out of bed first thing in the morning to take me to a crack house?" </p><p> </p><p>Edric returned from inside carrying two Mason jars. "Not just any crack house, Mittens! A crack house with weed!" The twins smirked at their now frowning sister.</p><p> </p><p>Amity had only ever smoked a couple of times back in high school, but never avidly. "You're not seriously suggesting we smoke out here, are you?" </p><p> </p><p>Emira feigned offense. "You dare imply that we are stupid, dear sister?" She socked Amity in the shoulder. "But for real though, we're just going to take these back to camp because it's Viney's birthday and I need to give her a present."</p><p> </p><p>Amity sighed and groaned at her sister's stupidity. "So you're giving your crush weed for her birthday? Does she even smoke?"</p><p> </p><p>Emira paused and thought about it for a sec, but then waved her hand dismissively. "Doesn't matter, a gift is a gift! And what do you know?! All you do is constantly hook up with your little girlfriend!"</p><p> </p><p>Amity's cheeks burned at the mention of 'hooking up' and 'girlfriend' in the same sentence. "Me and Luz aren't girlfriends! We're just having fun!"</p><p> </p><p>Edric smirked and slung an arm over her shoulder. "Oh, I get it now. So you're just casually hooking up?" </p><p> </p><p>Amity punched him in the arm, his little comment making her face burned a bright red hue. "It's not like that! I just don't know how to ask her if we're girlfriends or not!" The twins began to laugh like hyenas at their little sister's dilemma.</p><p> </p><p>Emira wiped a tear from her eye, slowly calming down to just a smug grin. "So you just skipped asking her to be your girlfriend and just went straight to sucking faces constantly?" Amity couldn't be mad because she was right. She hated it when her siblings were right.</p><p> </p><p>She opened her mouth to make a snide comment, but no words came out. Instead, she just shoved her sister into the snowy ground. "Let's just go home already!"</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>It was painful for Amity to watch her sister and Viney awkwardly flirt with each other, but then she remembered that she and Luz do that and shouldn’t be talking. 'Speaking of Luz, where is she?' Amity made her way back to their tent to find a focused Luz cleaning her gun.</p><p> </p><p>She chuckled when Amity took the weapon out of her hand and gave her a big bear hug. "Someone's clingy today," Amity just responded by burying her face into the crook of Luz's neck. "Hey! Your face is really cold!" She shuddered and played with Amity's messy hair.</p><p> </p><p>The girl hugged her tighter and decided now is the time to be bold. "That's why you should be a good girlfriend and warm me up!" Luz tensed up and Amity immediately began to panic and regret calling Luz her girlfriend, but then Luz gave her a kiss on top of the head.</p><p>
  <br/>
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</p><p>“Of course I’ll warm you up!”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I have discovered a new fear through a very graphic nightmare 😎</p><p>I was like almost beaten to death by a serial killer and got put in a coma for like 3 months. And then I woke up and went home my family was packing suitcases and I was like wtf are yall doing. And my mom just was like "oh the doctors said you weren't going to wake up until much later so we planned a family vacation and we already bought the tickets also they haven't caught the guy that tried to kill you yet." And I was like oh ok why was I in a coma in the first place and then they were like oh you got kidnapped at prom by a deranged janitor. THEN I ENDED UP AT PROM BEFORE THE COMA AND I SAW THE JANITOR LEADING KIDS INTO THE SCHOOL BASEMENT AND I WAS JUST LIKE WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING HERE AND THEN I WENT DOWN THERE AND THERE WERE DEAD KIDS ALL OVER THE FLOOR AND THEN THE WALLS JUST DISSAPEARD AND I WAS JUST STANDING IN NOTHINGNESS IN MY LIL SUIT AND TIE AND IT WAS JUST ME AND THE JANITOR AND HE STARTED CHASING ME WITH A BAT AND I WAS  LIKE OH SHIT OH FUCK</p><p> </p><p>and then I went in the living room and explained my dream to my mom and she just laughed and said so which one is your fear "Getting left home alone, getting beaten to death, or being put in a coma" and I just said a little bit of all three</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0024"><h2>24. Shotgunning</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>TW: DRUG USAGE</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I'M ON THE VERGE OF PASSING OUT BUT MY CLASS IS LITERALLY IN 15 MINUTES. JUST ONE MORE CLASS AND THEN I'M GOING TO TAKE A PHAT FUCKING NAP.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Viney actually ended up accepting Emira's gift because she felt bad and didn't want to hurt the girl's feelings. She even gave her a kiss on the cheek, even though Emira didn't put much effort into the gift and just saw a jar of weed and thought that it would be the perfect gift.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Viney has never smoked before so she suggested that they throw a party so she could try it her first time during it. Emira and Edric loved the idea because hey who was going to turn down free weed and a party? Obviously not them. Viney went on to invite Amity, Luz, Willow, and Gus. </span>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz was very nervous because she's never even smoked weed before and she was scared that she was going to embarrass herself in front of Amity. Her eyes widened at her own thoughts, 'what if I do something really stupid when I'm high?' </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Amity felt something clasp her hand and she looked down to see her girlfriend holding her hand with a scared look on her face. She turned Luz to face her and gave her a soft smile. "You don't have to do anything you don't want to, I won't make you and I won't let anyone else make you," Luz just responded by nodding and giving her girlfriend a tight bear hug. </span>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz sat in a circle and just observed the shenanigans before her. Willow was so stoned she couldn't even move and Gus just stared off into the void. Edric and Emira surprisingly have a high tolerance, leaving them to just have calm discussions about anything. Viney ultimately decided against smoking because someone needed to be responsible. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Amity was trying her best to hide the fact that she was high but couldn't stop laughing at literally anything. She turned to Luz to see the girl staring at the pipe in her hand curiously. "Do you want to try some?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz thought about it for a second before nodding her head. "Ok I'll try it, but just this once!" Amity smirked and held the pipe while Luz inhaled the smoke. Her lack of experience showed when she started coughing and gagging. She managed to choke out profanities while covering her mouth. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Amity patted her back and tried her best not to laugh. "Just exhale, babe." Luz released all the air in her lungs and finally felt a little bit better. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz sniffled and rubbed the tears from her eyes. "Well, that wasn't an enjoyable experience." </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Amity chuckled and ruffled her girlfriend's hair. "Here let me help you." She purred before taking a hit from the pipe. She held the smoke in her mouth before leaning in and kissing Luz. Amity then blew the smoke into her mouth and told Luz to hold it in her lungs for a few seconds. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz exhaled the smoke and giggled. "That's a lot better than last time. What was that?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Her girlfriend smirked and slung her arm around Luz's shoulder. "It's called shotgunning, do you want to do it again?" Luz just nodded her head and got prepared to go again while Edric and Emira were making loud and exaggerated gagging noises.</span>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was the dead of night when the party finally ended and Luz was beyond fucked up to the point that she couldn't even walk. Even Amity was having a hard time getting around. She even tried to carry Luz back to their tent, but they fell down halfway there and began to laugh like hyenas which caused someone to yell at them to shut up. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Amity shushed Luz as she tried to stifle her own laughter. "We have to be very quiet!" But they both ended up bursting out laughing again.</span>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>With much effort, the girls finally managed to make it back to their tent. They both giggled and snorted when Luz pushed Amity down onto the sleeping bag and crawled on top of her. "Now you have to do what I say!" Luz spoke mischievously, and all her girlfriend could do was laugh when she weakly pinned down her arms.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Amity just smiled up at Luz who could barely keep her eyes open. "Is that so?" Luz just hummed in response. Amity rose her brows smugly and flipped them over so she was on top. "You're too weak to tell me to do anything, Love." She smirked when she saw the embarrassed expression she loved so dearly. Amity leaned down and kissed Luz gently but gradually over time it became rougher, and soon they were helping each other undress.</span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
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</p><p>
  <span>This was going to be a long night...</span>
</p><p>
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</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Ya'll follow my insta so ya'll can see my shitty drawings of scenes in this fic.</p><p>@sapling_sapgetthi</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0025"><h2>25. The Herd Pt. 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Luz, Gus, and Amity have a brush with death.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The engine of a beat-up pick-up truck roared as it's worn tires tore up the dirt road underneath it. However, the noise of the engine was no match for the thousands of overlapping moaning and groaning from the deadies directly on the pick-up truck's tail. Willow and Emira were rerouting a herd away from camp. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Emira being the better driver opted to be the one to drive, sticking poor Willow to sit in the bed of the truck to do the dangerous part. She had to whoop and holler at the dead and be overall distracting, which is completely out of character for the usual wallflower.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Thankfully it wasn't just them handling this mission. Luz was a few miles up on a motorcycle that she had no idea how to ride, but how hard could it be to learn on the spot in a drastic situation? Very hard. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>You could hear the panic in Luz's voice as she tried to start the bike. "Come on… come on!! Start already!!" </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz's movements became more frantic when she started to hear the distant sound of the truck's engine and thousands of snarling deadies. She turned the handle hard until the engine sputtered to life, much to her relief.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Just as Willow and Emira rounded the corner with the herd Luz began to shout at the mass of deadies.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"OVER HERE JACKASSES!!!" </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Just as planned the herd turned their attention to the Latina. She smirked and turned the handle too hard and the bike flew out from under her. To add salt to literal injury, the bike fell on Luz's knee and she couldn't help but scream from the agony. Talk about ringing the dinner bell.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The herd was closing in and there wasn't enough time to start the motorcycle again, especially since Luz's knee was hurt. She turned back hopefully, only to see that Willow and Emira were already gone.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"FUCK!!"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The groans became louder and the deadies were right on top of Luz at this point. The situation was dire, but she managed to pry the bike off of her knee and heave herself off the ground. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz grimaced as she limped down the wrecked road. It was only a few more miles to the next checkpoint where Amity and Gus were, she could make it right? She was tough, she's made it this far so she's practically invincible. Right?</span>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>A few hours had passed and Amity was beginning to worry about her girlfriend. She drummed her fingers against the steering wheel and chewed on her bottom lip until it bled. All the possibilities of what happened to Luz ran through her head and made her anxiety spike drastically.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gus who was sitting in the passenger seat staring off into space turned to Amity to strike up a conversation. His mouth fell open but no words came out when he saw the dark look on the girl's face. He quickly shut his mouth and faced forward.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Do you think she's ok?" Amity's voice was barely above a whisper.</span>
</p><p>
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</p><p>
  <span>Gus didn't know how to respond or if he should, he didn't want to give Amity false hope and have it all come crashing down if something ended up happening to Luz. It wasn't like he wasn't worried about his friend, there was just no right answer for that question.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I don't know."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Is all he could think of to say. He didn't know how to talk to Amity and this situation felt like a ticking time bomb. She could end up doing something really reckless and get them both killed for the sake of just seeing if Luz was still alive if Gus didn't say something quickly. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Luz is stronger than what you give her credit for, if anything, you should be more worried if she turns out to be immortal… she could be a vampire!!!" He began to laugh at his own joke, only laughing harder when he heard Amity's groan of frustration. </span>
</p><p>
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</p><p>
  <span>Amity began to chuckle at the stupid joke after a while. "Ok, ok, you're right. She is pretty tough, I should trust her." </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gus cracked a few more jokes and Amity had to grip the steering wheel so she wouldn't double over laughing. Soon a comfortable silence fell upon the two teens, a new bond had been formed between the two of them. A bond as in they weren't quite friends or enemies, but they enjoyed each other's presence every once in a while.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The moment became all but domestic and peaceful when Amity looked out the side view mirror to reveal a painfully exhausted Luz who's pant leg was soaked with blood. The herd was not far behind her, nearly bearing down on the limping girl.</span>
</p><p>
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</p><p>
  <span>Gus leaned over Amity's lap and gasped. "WHY IS SHE NOT ON THE MOTORCYCLE?!"</span>
</p><p>
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</p><p>
  <span>Amity shoved him off and grabbed her shotgun from the backseat. "Get in the driver's seat and start the car as soon as I get out! I'm gonna go get her!!"</span>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz had limped nearly four miles to get to the third checkpoint. Her leg was bleeding pretty badly and she wanted to scream every time she stood on it. The more she walked the more she thought that her leg might be broken. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It took Luz maybe two hours to get to Amity's checkpoint and by then it felt like her entire leg was on fire. She smiled when she saw her girlfriend get out of the car with a shotgun. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>'Hopefully, she's about to Old Yeller me cause this shit fucking hurts.'</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>All jokes aside, Luz was glad to see Amity because she didn't know how much farther she could make it with the state her leg was in. She even went as far as to smile which was both disturbing and comical to Amity, seeing as Luz was getting chased by an army of the undead. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was too late for Amity to stand her ground, so she abandoned her shotgun and grabbed Luz instead. She hoisted Luz up onto her back and took off towards the car where Gus was panicking about whether the two would make it in time.</span>
</p><p>
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</p><p>
  <span>Gus turned the ignition and the car sputtered to life with a roar of a worn-out engine.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"HURRY UP!! I DON'T WANT TO GET MAULED!!"</span>
</p><p>
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</p><p>
  <span>Without a second thought, Amity threw Luz into the backseat and hopped in after her. Gus tore off from where they were parked and drove as fast as he could to make it to the next checkpoint, most likely almost going a hundred miles per hour. Poor Luz had to literally bite her tongue to keep from screaming when Amity accidentally kneed her injured leg.  </span>
</p><p>
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</p><p>
  <span>Amity quickly shot up when she noticed that she was hurting Luz. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Oh shit!! I'm sorry!!" </span>
</p><p>
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</p><p>
  <span>Luz, who looked like she was about to cry from the pain, waved her hand dismissively to try and play it off. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Don't sweat it, it doesn't hurt that bad…" She sat up and gave Amity a quick peck on the lips to solidify her lie. </span>
</p><p>
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</p><p>
  <span>Amity smiled and began to pepper Luz's face with kisses, she just wanted to show her girlfriend just how happy she was to see she was ok. She then remembered the motorcycle and abruptly stopped giving Luz affection.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"What happened to the bike? Is that why you're hurt? Did you crash?!"</span>
</p><p>
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  <span>Amity's rapid-fire questions overwhelmed Luz so she just put her hand over the girl's mouth.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Let's just say next time I won't be so cocky, and we'll leave it at that!" </span>
</p><p>
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</p><p>
  <span>Amity wasn't satisfied with that answer. She frowned and licked Luz's hand, making the Latina reel it back in disgust.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"You're always doing something stupid and I have to bail you out! What if something like this happens again and I'm not around! Your mortality is not something you should joke about, Luz!"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gus cleared his throat uncomfortably, this was not a conversation that he wanted to hear or be a part of.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>Amity huffed and crossed her arms before facing the window away from Luz. <span>"Whatever, we'll talk about this when we get home!" </span></p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz was in big trouble this time...</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>IT'S BEEN A HOT MINUTE NGL</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0026"><h2>26. The Herd pt. 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Wholesome Emira and Willow chapter uwu</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Btw this cool dude @drawing13ducks on insta drew fanart for the fic and my heart went ✨🧡✨💓💓💘🖤💛💛✨✨✨✨💙♥💚💜💗✨💛💛💜♥💞💚💛 BECAUSE LIKE IT'S SO COOL AND I JUST NSOBNSOBNOSFJNSO APPRECIATION LIKE GO FOLLOW THEM CAUSE THEIR ART IS AMAZING</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Once Emira and Willow turned that corner they were on their way home, they assumed Luz had it from there. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The afternoon sun glinted off the windshield like a honey-colored glow. It was a peaceful moment and Emira just smiled before searching the glove compartment for any CDs. Luckily she found a Sugar Ray CD, and then she remembered how she and Edric used to steal their mom's commute car and go for a joyride while listening to the song Every Morning. Those were some of the best memories that she had of her childhood. She popped the CD into the player and then the song began to play, and she sang along like she always did.</span>
</p><p>
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</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Every morning there's a halo hangin' from the corner of my girlfriend's four-post bed</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I know it's not mine but I'll see if I can use it</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>For the weekend or a one-night stand</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
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</p><p>
  <span>Willow hummed along to the muffled song. She didn't know the words but it was still a nice song to listen to in a moment like this. The warm sun made her miss going to the beach with her dads, or walking to the family diner down the street after school with Gus and Luz.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willow's mind began to wonder about what would happen if they crashed at that moment, it made her realize that she should be riding in the truck instead of the bed of the truck. She tapped on the back window and Emira came to a slow stop. She hopped out of the back of the truck and got in the front seat. </span>
</p><p>
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</p><p>
  <span>Emira stopped singing along to the tune and turned off the radio. She didn't look at Willow but she could feel the mild discontent the girl was radiating.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Soooo…" She drawled out. "It's been a while, Will. You, uh, probably don't remember but when you and Amity were kids I used to babysit you guys." Emira chuckled when she glanced at the smiling Willow. "Edric never wanted to help, he wasn't really good at those kinds of stuff. However, I distinctly remember one time you guys talked him into playing princess, and I have to say dresses and tiaras suit him!" </span>
</p><p>
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  <span>Willow laughed and kicked her feet up on the dashboard. "Yeah, I remember that. You guys always felt like the older siblings I never had… I missed that the most when me and Amity stopped being friends…" Both girls frowned at the bittersweet memory.</span>
</p><p>
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  <span>Emira ruffled Willow's hair and smiled. "It's cool. Now we can make up for all that lost time right now." She laughed before continuing. "Hey, do you think if we found a dress Edric would dress up as a princess again?"</span>
</p><p>
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  <span>Willow snorted while laughing and covered her mouth after realizing the embarrassing noise she just made. There was a pause before both girls erupted in laughter, so much so that Emira swerved and almost ran off the road.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"WATCH THE ROAD!! WATCH THE ROAD, EMIRA!!!"</span>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>The sun was starting to set and the red evening rays colored the sky like a painting. Emira and Willow were still about an hour from home and the Blight girl was starting to get tired.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"So Willow, did you ever learn to drive?"</span>
</p><p>
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</p><p>
  <span>Willow's eyebrows furrowed as if she was deep in thought and she took her legs off the dash. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"No, I don't suppose so. Why do you ask?"</span>
</p><p>
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  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Emira smirked and pulled to a stop on the side of the road, causing Willow's curiosity to pique. She heaved herself out of the truck and rounded to the passenger side, opening the door for Willow to step out. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Well, I'm gonna teach you then!"</span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Willow's eyes widened and in shock but soon transferred into a frown.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Emira, I don't think that's a good idea right now." The Blight shook her head laughing before throwing the keys to Willow, only making the girl's frown deepen. "It's getting dark, and what if we run into another herd?!"</span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Emira shrugged and got into the passenger side. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"We'll deal with it then, so stop worrying and let's go already!"</span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Willow sighed and got into the driver seat, her hands shook nervously when she started the ignition. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I still don't agree with this, but I know you won't stop until I-"</span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Suddenly there was a loud thump against the glass on Willow's window and both girls screamed from being startled. They turned to realize that, fortunately, it was a living young man and not a deady.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"LET ME IN PLEASE!! THEY'RE COMING!!" </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He hopped into the bed of the truck and Willow in a panic took off without even questioning what this guy was running from. </span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Emira didn't stop screaming however because they were driving in the dark without the headlights on and Willow was speeding.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"WILLOW STOP!! STOP THE TRUCK!!" </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Well, she should have worded it better because Willow did stop. In fact, she actually slammed the breaks and sent the young man flying over the roof of the car and into the road.</span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Willow, who was freaking out because she thought that she might have killed this poor guy, rushed out of the car to go investigate.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Are you alive?!"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His leg was twisted awkwardly and his face was messed up pretty badly, not to mention he was unconscious but luckily still breathing. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Emira, let's get him in the truck!!"</span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Emira's eyes widened in shock and then she frowned.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Absolutely not!! We don't know him!!"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willow ignored her and dragged the guy into the truck, much to Emira's protests.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Willow, he could be dangerous!!"</span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>"JUST SHUT UP AND GET IN THE TRUCK!!!"</span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Emira was about to respond, even going as far as to open her mouth, but decided against it because it would be a waste of time arguing. </span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>They'll deal with it when they get home.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Ya'll just?? hate your siblings??? Like I see all this mean shit about people's siblings on tik tok and me and my brother get along good. Like yeah, we bicker sometimes but like never full-on fight. Well, we did when we were younger but like who doesn't get in fistfights with their siblings when they're kids. (actually embarrassing fact: My brother has a scar on his arm from where I bit him when we were 8) REGARDLESS My brother is 18 I'm 17 we cool and get McDonald's sometimes... well actually he buys me Mcdonalds and I provide entertainment. So were square.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0027"><h2>27. The Herd Pt. 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>some good Vinera contnt uwu</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>really short chapter</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Viney and Edric sat on their dirt bikes in complete silence, they've been like that for hours and it was eating away at both of them. Just something about the quiet these days heightens someone's anxiety.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Edric decided to finally break the awkward silence.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"You're into my sister, right?"</span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Viney's face turned cherry red from the question, Edric had completely caught her off guard. She tried to think of a lie but it was too late, she had already been quiet for too long. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Edric smirked and crossed his arms while leaning on the handlebars of the bike.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Don't worry I won't tell her, but I think you should just ask her out already! I mean, it's totally obvious that she's into you too."</span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Viney finally managed to get a sentence after fumbling with her words for a couple of minutes. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"T-thanks, I'll think about it…"</span>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>It didn't take the duo long to warm up to each other. She and Edric actually got along quite well. He was a bit childish, but Viney thought it was refreshing considering how serious everyone is nowadays. Not to mention he was a big help too, he and Viney discussed plans to get her to ask Emira out. Most were actually good ideas, some were… working progress.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It hadn't been long before they started to hear a rumbling engine and moaning and groaning that sounded like thousands of fans in a football stadium.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Edric smirked and turned the handle on his bike.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Well, it's time to go!" </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Viney smiled and revved her engine and shouted to steer the deadies attention away from Gus and Amity. Well, It worked, and now they were driving like hell to the final checkpoint which was a large field quite a few miles east.</span>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>By the time Edric and Viney made it home, it was already incredibly late into the night. Both young adults yawned and stretched, they were ready for bed and close to collapsing.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Viney tapped Edric's shoulder, making him turn around. "Hey, so I know you're tired and all but do you want to grab something to eat before you go?"</span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Edric smiled and slung his arm around Viney's shoulder. "Sure, I can go for a bite! Not to mention it'd be nice to spend time with my future sister-in-law!" </span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Viney shoved him off and her face burned so brightly it almost glowed in the dark. "Dude, chill!! I haven't even asked her out yet!!"</span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Edric shrugged and then walked to the pantry with Viney.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Whatever you say, future Mrs. Blight!"</span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>"Shut up!!... And for your information, she'd be taking my last name!"</span>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>When Viney made her way to her room she was expecting to finally be going to bed, oh how wrong she was. When she opened the door to her room the hospital beds had two sleeping figures in them. She recognized one as Luz and the other as someone she didn't recognize and was handcuffed to the bed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Can't have one moment of peace in this goddamn camp!"</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>mhm yes possible crush on girl but no date only admire from afar</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0028"><h2>28. Second Chances</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Wholesome Lumity</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Luz woke up abruptly in the middle of the night because of a sharp pain shooting through her leg, she rose up from her spot on the bed and searched the darkroom for Amity. She frowned sadly when she remembered that Amity was mad at her. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz perked up when she heard groaning from across the room, her hands trembled as she searched the bedside table for a weapon. Once her hand landed on a scalpel she gripped it tight and stood from the bed, shuffling over to where the groaning was coming from. Her eyes landed on a sleeping young man whose leg appeared to be broken, not to mention he was handcuffed to the bed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She nudged him with her hand, only for it to be swatted away.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Hey!" She shook him again and he grumbled in protest. "Hey, who are you!" Now she was just shoving the poor guy.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>The young man finally opened his eyes just to glare at Luz. "Go away! I'm trying to sleep…" He shut his eyes and rolled over away from Luz.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>The Latina's brows furrowed together and she carefully plopped down next to his bed. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I'm Luz, and you're in my camp! So answer the fucking question, who are you?"</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>The young man sighed before sitting up with a whimper. "My name is Jerbo, happy now?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz smirked and heaved herself up off the ground before dusting herself off and limping to the door. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jerbo reached out for Luz but she was just barely out of his reach. "Luz, wait!" She turned to him and raised a brow. "Can you get your doctor, please? My leg really hurts…"</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Luz thought about it for a moment and then shrugged her shoulders. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Sure, if I can find her." With that, she left to go take a shower. The blood caked to her skin grossed her out and she wanted to clean it off. </span>
</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>The water stung all of Luz's scrapes and she hissed in pain, all the blood caked on her body liquified and slid down the shower drain. She glanced down at her injured knee and noticed that not only was it swollen, but there was also a jagged wound going from her knee to her calf.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"That shit hurts…" </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Once she cleaned off all the blood she turned off the water and carefully dried off. Her eyes drifted to the floor where her clothes were, frowning at how wrecked her pants were from the accident. Her shirt was definitely worse for wear too, but the most disappointing was her jacket. It was almost completely shredded.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>With an exasperated sigh, she opened up the cabinet underneath the sink and fished out the emergency clothes she kept in there, which was just one of Amity's shirts and a pair of basketball shorts that were comically too big for her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"It'll do for now." </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz glanced down at her leg that was starting to bleed again, the sight irritated her and she just grumbled and grabbed duct tape from the cabinet too. Afterward, she took her old shirt and tore it up and wrapped it around her leg, and duct-taped it in place. With a triumphant smirk, she patted her now bandaged leg. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Good as new!"</span>
</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz hobbled downstairs as quietly as she could as to not wake anyone. It was difficult because each time she put pressure on her injured leg she'd wince from the sharp pain. She shuffled to the front door and quietly opened it and shut it behind her. The freezing night bit at her damp skin and made her shiver. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz was going back to her tent no matter what, she didn't want Amity to be mad at her anymore. She was going to make it up to her, even if that meant she had to wake her girlfriend up at the crack of dawn just to apologize to her about making light of her own death. Luz hated it when Amity was mad at her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The pine needles poked and prodded the pads of her feet as she made her way back to her tent in the pitch-black night. It had to be early in the morning, most likely around four or five. The sun was slowly rising from the horizon and it glinted off the thawing snow.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz opened the tent flap and crawled inside and laid down next to Amity, shaking her shoulder softly. The girl was a light sleeper so it didn't take long for her to shoot up startled.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Huh?!.. W-what's… what's going on?..." Her voice was raspy and deep, not to mention her messy lion's mane of hair framed her face perfectly in Luz's eyes. </span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>"You're beautiful…" </span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Amity's brows knitted together and squinted her eyes at Luz, rubbing her tired eyes for extra measure.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Luz, what are you doing here? you're supposed to be in the infirmary."</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Luz pouted and wrapped her arms around her girlfriend in a tight bear hug. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I missed you! And I don't want you to be mad at me anymore… I promise I won't take death lightly anymore!" She paused to rest her hand on her heart. "Scouts honor!"</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Amity couldn't stay mad at her, she rolled her eyes and smiled at her hazel-eyed girlfriend.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"You're doing the pledge of allegiance, stupid! And fine, you're forgiven. Just don't say stupid shit like that anymore."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz responded by giving Amity a peck on the lips and snuggled into the crook of her neck. The golden-eyed girl chuckled and threw her blankets over them. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"You're so clingy."</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>"Yeah, but you like it."</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I feel my life is being threatened, I'm pretty sure my friend is planning on murdering me so she can either steal my Christmas presents or my mom. </p><p>I'm in danger</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I really do be rewriting this whole ass story</p></blockquote></div></div>
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